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The Life of His Majesty 
Albert, King of the Belgians 



The Life of His Majesty 
Albert, King of the Belgians 

By 

John de Courcy Mac Donnell 

Author of 
"Belgium, Her Kings, Kingdom and People," etc. 

lllu^i'ftted 



New York 

Frederick A. Stokes Company 

Publishers 






■,^v 



em 

SEP 10 I9i5 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 9 

I. THE king's birth AND ACCESSION - 15 

II. THE ROMANCE OF THE COBURQS - - 28 

III. THE king's PARENTS AND CHILDHOOD - 38 

IV. THE PRINCE AT THE MILITARY SCHOOL - 53 

V. STUDIES AND TRAVELS OF AN HEIR- 
APPARENT 60 

VI. TRAVEL IN THE CONGO - - - 64 

VII. THE prince's PUBLIC LIFE - - - 72 

VIII. PRINCE Albert's marriage - - - 91 

IX. THE PRINCE AND THE FISHERFOLK - 100 

X. THE EXHIBITION YEAR - - - - 105 

XI. THE QUEEN AND THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD 111 

XII. THE VISIT OF THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

TO BELGIUM 125 

Xm. THE KING AND THE POLITICIANS - - 133 

XIV. THE KING AND GERMANY - - - 147 

XV. STORM-CLOUDS OVER BELGIUM - - 157 

XVI. THE KING AND THE ARMY - - - 165 

XVII. THE DECLARATION OF WAR - - - 175 

XVni. THE KING AT THE FRONT - - - 183 



To Her Royal Highness 

Princess Marie Jose op Belgium 

Madam, — A resident in Brussels, it has been my 
privilege to watch the growth of your Royal High- 
ness, and, in common with all who live beneath the 
rule of His Majesty the King, your Royal High- 
ness's father, to rejoice in the brightness of your 
gracious life. 

Guided by the wise and kindly hands of your 
Royal parents, you have gladdened the lives of 
millions in Belgium. All of those millions, and other 
millions of true-hearted folk outside the country who 
love Belgium and her Royal family, wish at this 
moment to offer to your Royal Highness signs of 
their gratitude. 

Some would carry flowers to you ; those who are 
in Belgium earnestly work for the charity to little 
children placed under your Royal Highness's patron- 
age ; all wish to do something for Belgium. 

It has been thought I could best serve by telUng 
something of the hfe of the great and gallant King, 
His Majesty, your Royal Highness's father. Since it 
treats of so noble a subject, one most dear to you, 
I venture to carry it to you, and offer it, a little 
gift from, Madam, 

Your Royal Highness's 
Most humble and most obedient servant, 

John de Courcy Mao Donnell 



INTRODUCTION 

BY 

COMMANDANT MATON, 

Military Attaclie of the Belgian Legation, London 

The infancy of King Albert was characterised by the 
simphcity of the family life in which it was passed. 
On the death of his elder brother, Baudouin, which 
happened in 1891, he became heir to the throne of 
Belgium. 

After general and miUtary studies he engaged in 
practical work and travel, undertaking, notably, 
a voyage to North America ; and his knowledge is 
remarkably developed, above all in the domains 
of social science and economics. 

King Albert was not well known before his acces- 
sion to the throne. He lived in the shadow of 
an eminent but authoritative monarch, kept apart 
from the great enterprises which marked the end of 
the preceding reign. 

The old King, after a fecund reign, after the realisa- 
tion of a grandiose programme, died somewhat isolated 
in the middle of a sad family dispute, misunderstood 
by all those his genius surpassed, feared by all, but 
loved by some, intimate with him, who knew him. 

It is not very easy to succeed to a great man. 



Introduction 

King Albert surmounted tliat difficulty with great 
ease. 

His first advantage consisted in his presenting a 
moral physiognomy totally different from that of his 
predecessor. He did not come alone to the throne. 
He arrived with " his wife and children " — in that 
there was a first reaction, one most sympathetic in 
Belgium, which of itself gained him an instinctive 
popularity. 

He commenced his profession of king, if one may 
use the expression, modestly, but he soon manifested 
a very active personality, energetic and most intelli- 
gent. Those remarkable quahties are actuated by 
a powerful lever ; the sentiment of duty, the need of 
truth and justice carried to a rare degree. 

He applied himself so conscientiously to the fulfil- 
ment of his mission, neglecting no interest, no branch 
of national life, that soon everyone felt the benefi- 
cent action of the head of the State extend to his 
particular domain. 

His upright spirit searches everywhere for personal 
merit, industry, and moral quahties. 

An example which speaks much for this characteris- 
tic is borrowed from his family hfe. The principal 
condition which he insisted on being observed in the 
selection of the comrades of his sons was that they 
should be children " of honest men, and workers, 
not children of idlers." He made a serious examina- 
tion of the Congo in the spring of 1909, traversing 

10 



Introduction 

the colony from end to end — it was a happy in- 
spiration. Some months later King Leopold II., 
whom he succeeded, died. 

The economic machine having been marvellously 
fitted in the course of the preceding reign, he was 
able to devote himself to putting in motion the 
numerous moral, intellectual, and artistic resources 
of the nation. In that he was exceptionally seconded 
by the eminent woman who is Queen of the Belgians. 
He understood, moreover, that a rich people occupying 
the perilous geographical position of Belgium required 
a strong army, a school of energy and disinterested- 
ness. 

King Leopold II. had had the satisfaction of 
signing, on his death bed, a miHtary law which 
sensibly ameUorated the national defence. In spite 
of the hesitations, and even of the systematic 
opposition which so many years of illusions had 
accumulated. King Albert resumed the work begun 
by his predecessor, and succeeded, thanks to the 
clairvoyant foresight of a Minister of great value, in 
creating a real national army. Unfortunately, the 
organisation of this army was not completed in 1914. 

At the moment of the terrible crisis which descended 
on Belgium he was found calm and heroic, endowed 
with exceptional physical vigour. He is always at 
his post braving the most real dangers, and, once more 
he finds himself there with '* his wife." 

King Albert is a man of action. He is also a 

11 



Introduction 

man who studies, and, finally, a man who knows how 
to talk. 

His conversation is never useless. It is always 
interesting ; often witty. His style is precise and 
his vocabulary very extensive. 

That popularity, which was surely justified, of the 
first years of his reign, is affirming itself with eclat. 
The Chief of the State and his people find themselves 
indissolubly united in the same sentiment and the 
same will. 



12 



My most deep thanks are due, and I gratefully 
render tliem, to His Excellency, Count de Jehay, 
Belgian Ex-Minister to Luxembourg, for his great 
kindness in submitting this work to King Albert for 
His Majesty's gracious revision, and for the trouble 
he took speedily to convey to me the King's approval 
of the work. 

My thanks are also due to Commandant Maton, 
Military Attache of the Belgian Legation to the 
Court of St. James, who in several conversations and 
in the notes I have been able to embody in the work, 
has given information the value of which must be 
apparent to all. 

John de Courcy Mao Donnell 
March, 1915 



The Life of His Majesty Albert, 
King of the Belgians 

CHAPTER I 

The King's Birth and Accession 

On the evening of Thursday, April 8th, 1875, a salvo 
of a hundred and one guns, fired on the plain of 
manoeuvres at Brussels, announced to the citizens 
the birth of the Prince. On the next day the news- 
papers bore official announcement : 

" Her Royal Highness, Madame the Countess of 
Flanders, was delivered yesterday, Thursday, at 
half -past five o'clock in the evening, of a Prince, 
who has received the names of Albert, Leopold, 
Marie, Meinrad." 

Thirty-four years later, on another Thursday, 
December 23rd, 1909, this Prince as King Albert I. 
ascended the throne of Belgium. In the Palace of 
the Nations at Brussels, speaking successively in 

15 



The King of the Belgians 

French and Flemish, he took the oath of the Belgian 
kings to preserve the constitution and maintain the 
independence and the rights of the country, before 
the assembled Parliament. How well King Albert 
has kept that oath the world knows. 

The Royal family stayed over-night at the Chateau 
of Laeken. In the morning, at eight o'clock, the 
Queen's cortege started from the royal suburb to the 
sound of the National Anthem, amidst the acclama- 
tions of the crowd gathered from all parts of the 
kingdom, and passed to the city. 

In her carriage beside the Queen sat the King's 
mother, the Countess of Flanders, whose face glowed 
with joy. Opposite sat the young Princes, Leopold, 
the present Duke of Brabant, heir to the throne, and 
his brother Charles, for whom his father's title of 
Count of Flanders has been revived. 

The boy Princes rejoiced as hugely in the crowd as 
the crowd rejoiced in them. 

In the next carriage there followed the King's two 
sisters. Princess Clementine, wife of Prince Victor 
Napoleon, and Princess Stephanie. 

In the other carriages there followed the members 
of the Royal house, and around them on horses that 
pranced and caracoled was an escort of the Guards. 

As King Albert rode out of the gates of the Chateau, 
the trumpets rent the air, and the National Anthem, 
the Braban^onne, was played, but above the blare 
of the trumpets, above the music, the people's cries 

16 



The King's Birth and Accession 

resounded, " Vive le Roi, vive Albert ! " There was ^ 
already a strong note of affection, as strong as the 1 
note of loyalty in the cry, " Vive Albert ! " The King 
was already acclaimed the people's King — Vive Albert! 

On the King's right there rode, supporting Belgium 
most fittingly, as is now proved, the Duke of Con- 
naught. On the King's left there rode his wife's 
brother. Prince Francis Joseph. Behind His Majesty 
there was a train of royalties, the professed friends 
of the King — Leopold Salvator of Austria, Wilhelm 
of Hohenzollern, and others, whose friendship for 
Belgium was vaguer than the vaguest dreams. 
Beside them there were men of equally royal rank, 
and other men representing crowns as great and 
thrones as honoured as those found in any part of 
Austria or Germany, who in themselves and in 
their masters are true to their oaths. 

The Netherlands was there represented by the 
Prince Consort, an Infant of the Royal House repre- 
sented Spain. To-day, with kingdoms rent asunder, 
we remember those who stood by Belgium and who 
stand by her and her King at this moment. The 
Netherlands has maintained her rights, Spain and 
America are saving the population of Belgium. 

To me, author of this book, it is a cause of pride 
to know that the representative of His Most Christian 
King of Spain and the representative of the United 
States of America are both of Irish descent and 
sympathy. 

17 



The King of the Belgians 

His Excellency, tlie Marquis de Villalabor, adds 
most proudly to his name Villalabor, Y. O'Neill ; 
Mr. Brand Whitlock, the present American Minister 
at Brussels, boasts also of his Irish connections. 

I have not wandered far from the history of the 
King's installation in speaking of these representa- 
tives of foreign States, for the Ministers accredited 
to Brussels at the King's coronation from Spain 
and America were Mr. Page Bryan, of the old Irish 
house of O'Brien of Thomond, and Mr. Merry del Val, 
brother of the Cardinal, one of the Merrys of Water- 
ford, whose name, as men of Irish descent and intense 
loyalty to the Crown, was known to all before ever 
it was thought Germany would tear up a " scrap of 
paper." i^ 

On the morning of the day on which the King was 
crowned it rained, but no one in the huge crowds 
gathered together remembered that it rained. None 
thought of anything but gaiety — all were gay. From 
a dozen different points of vantage I watched the 
procession pass. The little Princess Marie Jos6 
was not present in the royal cortege ; her parents 
had thought it better to leave her in the house of her 
grandmother, the Countess of Flanders, from which 
she could witness the procession. She did so. From 
the windows of my Club, Le Cercle Africain, opposite, 
I watched the Princess and the crowd, and rejoiced 
in both. For hours they cheered, and with reason, 
for never was there a Princess more charming in a 

18 



The King's Birth and Accession 

fairy tale — never was there a little girl more lovable 
and less unspoiled. 

Again the trumpets sounded, again the crowd 
hurrahed, again all was frenzy. The King passed — 
a little girl cheered and cheered wildly, she waved her 
handkerchief in one hand, she waved it in the other, 
she waved it in both hands, she flung it aside and 
waved instead a huge slice of bread, from which she 
had just bitten a morsel — it was the Princess Marie 
Jose ! 

In the Palace of Parliament waiting pohticians 
questioned each other eagerly as to the probable 
policy of the new King, and what his reign would 
offer. Belgium, which copied England in her cus- 
toms, now joins with England in her actions. The 
Cabinet resigned on the King's accession, and the 
King might, had he so willed, have summoned a 
new Ministry. He did not do so, but accepted 
himself the responsibihties the Government had 
undertaken, and those still greater he knew the 
whole country willed, party differences being ignored. 
His oath proved that he was, as the crowd had 
acclaimed him, King of the Belgians. It is a simple 
oath. He took it both in Flemish and French, and in 
the moment of taking it he united the races that 
inhabit Belgium in loyalty to their country's flag. 
But not all were loyal to the Crown. There was 
still a handful of men ardent in their actions and in 
their hearts, who thought loyalty to Belgium was 

19 



The King of the Belgians 

best proved by disloyalty to the Crown. These men 
are Belgians ; they remain loyal to the country, 
but disloyalty to the Crown is a thing no man dare 
murmur in their presence to-day. Their King has 
proved himseK the country's defender. 

Each Bang that has ruled over Belgium has worked 
well for the country. Leopold I. strove hard to 
consohdate his little kingdom ; Leopold II. made 
the little kingdom he succeeded to, a wide empire — 
he fired Belgium's sons with the zeal by which Europe 
benefits to-day. Albert I. prepared his people for 
peace as well as for war. He girt his sword around 
him, but he also opened books and taught the Belgian 
world to read and to admire the works of Belgian 
poets and romancers, as they had long admired those 
of Belgian scientists and historians. The King's 
announcement of this in his speech at his accession 
to the throne impressed all Belgium. 

In the English Parhament, when the King opens 
a session, silence does not make itself felt. The 
King's peers are there and the peeresses, and all 
know, or think they know, what will come from the 
King's lips. In Belgium, moulded though her in- 
stitutions are on those of England, democratic 
though she may have thought she was, things are 
different. Men in that country still beheve that the 
King's speech expresses the personal wishes of the 
King, and as regards King Albert's pronouncements 
they were right. He said : 

20 



The King's Birth and Accession 

" At the moment that I assume the mission, 
which the constitution confers on me, my thoughts 
are naturally carried to the founders of our inde- 
pendence, to the Congress which fixed in an im- 
memorial charter the fundamental principles of 
our national hfe and towards those eminent men 
who illumined the epoch of 1830 and who guided 
Belgium in the ways of poHtical wisdom. My 
thoughts here naturally turn towards the chief of 
the dynasty — King Leopold I., the chosen of the 
free electors of the nation. 

" Here I address to them a grateful and thankful 
homage. Respectful guardian of the institutions 
which the country gave to itself, Leopold I. compre- 
hended and reaHsed the aspirations of the Belgian 
people. He consoHdated Belgium at home — he 
made her honoured outside. In the great family 
of nations Belgium was esteemed as a country of 
order, of freedom, of progress — her King as a sage. 
The King whom, alas, we weep for to-day, under- 
took, the moment he ascended the throne, to make 
Belgium greater and more powerful, a noble 
ambition which he had the glory of realising. 

" It is scarcely thirty years since there was seen 
on the map of Africa an immense and impene- 
trable territory desolated by slavery — it was a 
stain on the face of the globe. Now peace reigns 
in that country widely open to civilisation. Who 
reaHsed this miracle ? King Leopold II., by his 

31 



The King of the Belgians 

foresight, his courage, his tenacity, vahantly 
seconded by the devotion of so many of our com- 
patriots. The memory of this will rest engraved 
in the hearts of our people. 

" Animated by the constant thought of enrich- 
ing the nation. King Leopold wished to make 
the economic foundations of the country most soHd. 
His designs always vast, were seconded by his will, 
which never failed and which in many adverse 
or critical circumstances, was solemnly afl&rmed, 
and the country was proud of its King. 

" The expressions of gratitude which saluted the 
memory of King Leopold II. testify to the most 
sincere gratitude of all the Belgians, and in this 
homage, foreign potentates, moved by the mourn- 
ing of the Belgian nation, and the admirers of the 
intellectual qualities of Leopold II. have desired 
to associate themselves. In the name of Belgium 
I address myself to the Princes, to the ambassadors, 
to the envoys extraordinaires, whose presence has 
been for us a precious pledge of friendship. 

" Gentlemen, more and more the moment has 
come for Belgium to recognise her destiny and to 
look the facts of the future in the face. In the 
course of an existence of three-quarters of a century 
she has realised — surpassing the most optimistic 
previsions of her founders — that she is happy and 
she is rich, but riches create responsibilities for 
countries, as for individuals. The intellectual 

22 



The King's Birth and Accession 

and moral forces alone of a nation are the founda- 
tions of its prosperity. 

" It behoves us to prolong a brilliant era by 
imbuing ourselves with the ideas and principles 
which are the traditions of the Belgians — the 
steadfast attachment to all our constitutional 
liberties, the love of our independence, wisdom 
and reasonableness in pubhc affairs — it is thus 
that the Belgian people will maintain intact their 
sacred patrimony created by the labour of so 
many generations. They will march on towards 
the pacific conquests of labour and service, while 
the artists and writers of Flanders and Wallonia 
will strew the way with their masterpieces. 

" The nation of its free-will, desirous of com- 
pleting the work of its King, has assumed the 
sovereignty of the Congo territories. In the con- 
sciousness of its duty, also with firmness, it has 
traced the colonial poHcy it intends to follow. It 
is a pohcy of humanity and of progress. To a 
justice-loving people a colonising mission can 
only be one of high civilisation. By accepting it 
loyally a small country shows itself great. Belgium 
governs herself by institutions the principles of 
which have been copied by other States. She has 
always held to her promises, and when she under- 
takes to apply to the Congo a programme worthy 
of herself, none have the right to doubt her word. 

" Gentlemen, I have a very clear conception of 



The King of the Belgians 

my duty. The duty of Princes is dictated to their 
conscience by the spirit of the people, for if the 
throne has its prerogatives, it has, above all, its 
responsibilities. It is necessary that the Sovereign 
should hold himself with entire loyalty, above all 
parties. It is necessary that he be watchful for 
the maintenance of the vital forces of the nation. 
It is necessary that he should be ceaselessly atten- 
tive to the voice of the country, and watch with 
soKcitude over the welfare of the poor. The 
Sovereign should be the servant of the law and 
the upholder of social peace. 

"May God help me to fulfil this mission. As 
for myself, I shall always be ready to second 
the efforts of those who work for the grandeur 
of the country and who, filled with the spirit of 
concord and social advancement, raise the intel- 
lectual and moral level of the nation, develop 
education and instruction, and assure to the 
masses greater well-being. 

" I love my country ; the Queen shares my 
sentiments of unalterable fidelity to Belgium ; we 
imbue our children with them, and we awaken 
in them at the same time love of their native land, 
love of their family, love of labour, love of good. 
These are the virtues which render nations strong. 

" Gentlemen, the reception which has been 
given to me has touched me profoundly. I see in 
it a proof of confidence which honours me as well 

24 



The King's Birth and Accession 

as sustains me. I will exert myself to merit it. 

In taking the constitutional oath I swear to myself 

and to the country to scrupulously fulfil my duties 

and consecrate all my forces and all my life to the 

service of the Fatherland." 

Electricity was in the air while the King delivered 
his speech. The Belgian Chamber is a noble hall, 
well fitted for a historic gathering. All present 
recognised that they were witnessing an event which 
no Belgian in future times could forget, but none, 
except perhaps the King himself, who made the 
speech, knew to what a great extent the scene was to 
be historic. King Albert spoke from his heart the 
sentiments which were those of the whole nation. 
The dangers which the pubHc thought threatened 
Belgium did not exist. Belgium's good-will had 
removed them. The words in which the King 
declared, " No one has the right to doubt the word 
of the nation," were received with salvoes of applause ; 
the whole assembly, from Cardinal, princes, magis- 
trates, ministers of state, grouped to the right of the 
throne, to the very humblest citizens in the galleries, 
joined in acclaiming these words, as they did in 
acclaiming the sentence in which the King spoke of 
the constitutional Hberties of the country, and, again, 
that in which he spoke of the art and artists of 
Flanders and Wallonia. 

King Albert is a nervous speaker ; his whole 
person vibrates with the sentiment he expresses. 

25 



The King of the Belgians 

In this speech he accentuated every passage, and 
conveyed to all the conviction of security. The 
greatest moment came when, extending his hand 
with a solemn gesture, he took the oath in French 
and in Flemish. He is the first of the Belgian Kings 
who swore in the two languages to maintain the 
constitution, and the people of the two races who 
united to form the country were equally gratified. 

Nothing could have passed more happily than this 
day. All possible animosities — rehgious, political, or 
social — were laid aside. If any SociaUst raised his 
voice it was to cheer the King. If any anarchist 
was by he held his peace. Belgium, when Belgians 
rule the land, is a country as free to all comers as 
England is. It was the proud boast of Brussels 
that it was the centre of social effort. There gathered 
there, unfrowned on by the Government, un- 
disturbed by the pohce, the most advanced Socialists. 
The preachers of Eepubhcanism and the apostles of 
Free Thought were there as free as Jesuits and 
Legitimists, and Belgian anarchists were, before war 
changed all things, no insignificant body. In the 
King's entourage there was no httle fear of what 
anarchists or Sociahsts might do. Taking advantage 
of Belgian hberty, admirers of Spanish anarchists 
had made more than one demonstration about that 
time, and it was feared these men might seize the 
opportunity of insulting the Prince who represented 
Spain, so much so that there was great dread of 

26 



The King's Birth and Accession 

that Prince's appearance in tlie royal procession. 
But neither the Spanish Prince nor the Belgian King 
gave heed to the whispered counsels of prudence. 
The Prince took the place that was his by right, 
and the anarchists let him pass in peace, and all 
went well. 

What struck the people most at the moment in 
the King's speech was his reference to art and artists. 
In King Leopold's time, finance rather than art was 
honoured by the Sovereign. King Leopold did not 
ignore artists or deny them his patronage, but all 
knew that, with the exception of architecture and 
the arts of warfare, he had no real love for any of 
their works. King Albert, in making the reference he 
did to art, pleased the whole nation, for there exist 
few Belgians who are not artists or art lovers in one 
way or another. 



27 



CHAPTER II 

The Romance op the Coburgs 

The House of Coburg, to which Albert King of the 
Belgians belongs, springs from a warlike race which 
first won fame fighting in the great Thuringian forest 
against Attila and his Huns. The Thuringian Mark, 
or Margravate, was founded by Charlemagne to 
defend the line of the Saale against the Slavs. Near 
that river there stood in the twelfth century the 
Castle of Wettin from which the Coburgs took their 
family name. 

The Margravate of Misnia became hereditary in the 
Wettin family in the time of Conrad the Great, who, 
born about 1098, became Margrave of Misnia in 1123. 
With Conrad began the romance of the Coburgs ; the 
romance of a family which divided itself to conquer. 

While other famiHes, less wide in their aims, sought 
to consohdate their possessions in one male Hne, it 
was the poHcy of the Coburgs to slice their states 
amongst their scions, so that, if possible, every Prince 
of their race might wear a Sovereign's crown, or at 
least grasp a ruhng Prince's sceptre. That policy, 

28 



The Romance of the Coburgs 

inaugurated by Conrad, has in our day placed 
Princes of his house on the thrones of England, 
Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria, and Coburg, and lesser 
German prinoipahties, on whose shields the crown of 
rue is borne. 

The gathering of riches, another pohoy of the 
Coburgs, began also with Conrad, who was surnamed 
the Rich and the Pious, as well as the Great. Conrad 
was a Palladin of the Empire and a pious defender of 
the Church. He figured in pilgrimages and crusades. 
This Prince had six sons, the youngest of whom 
entered the Church and died a bishop. In 1156 he 
divided his territories amongst his five other sons, 
and being assured that his race would prosper laid 
down his margrave's staff and entered as a lay brother 
into the monastery of Petersberg, where he died in 
1157. 

The sceptre of Misnia descended to Conrad's eldest 
son Otto, surnamed in his turn the Rich. Otto 
founded the abbey of Celle, and bestowed villages and 
land in the surrounding forest of Miriquidi on the 
Benedictine monks who served it. 

The monks, clearing the forest, discovered rich 
silver mines. Otto promptly repossessed himself of 
the district, indemnifying the monks for the loss of 
their villages by a grant of a small town ; and the 
mines were worked for the profit of the reigning house 
and of the populace with whom from those early 
days the Coburgs, true to another poUcy of their race, 

29 



The King of the Belgians 

shared their prosperity. The acquisition of the 
Landgraviat of Thuringia, and the Palatinate of 
Saxony by Henry the Illustrious, Otto's grandson, 
elevated the house of Wettin to the rank of the most 
powerful Princes ; the importance of their States, 
commercially and politically, was equal to that of 
Austria and Bavaria, and had Henry wished he might 
have obtained Austria on the death of Duke Leopold 
VII. in 1246, whose daughter Constance he had 
married, but his Thuringian states contented 
him. 

Exactly a century later, in 1346, the Wettins be- 
came possessed of the town and district of Coburg by 
the marriage of Frederick the Severe with Catherine 
of Henneberg. In 1425 that Prince's son, Frederick 
the Bellicose, was invested with the dignity of Elector 
of Saxony. In 1486 came the most famous division 
of the family's possessions ; that between Ernest and 
Albert, sons of Frederick the Gentle, Elector of Saxony, 
founder of the Ernestine and Albertine lines. Ac- 
cording to the family custom, the young brother, 
Albert, was allowed to choose his portion. He took 
Misnia, the modern Saxony, whose Kings descend 
from him ; Ernest, the elder brother, retained the 
Electorate dignity and was ancestor of the Dukes of 
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. 

Ernest and Albert divided eighty-two populous and 
rich lordships between themselves. Their descendants 
continued gaily increasing and dividing their riches 

30 



The Romance of the Coburgs 

and provinces until the time of Ernest the Pious, of 
the Ernestine line ; that Prince divided his states 
amongst his seven sons. His eldest son, Frederick, 
to whose share Gotha fell, abohshed the ancient 
custom of dividing the family territories by the 
creation of a sovereign state for each son, and estab- 
hshed the law of primogeniture in its place. The 
other dukes of the house of Wettin followed his 
example, and thenceforward the younger sons of the 
family who desired to reign could find no ducal 
coronets for their brows, and were obliged to grasp at 
royal crowns. 

Wide power, great dignity, and high estate be- 
longed to the Coburgs long before they set foot on 
the steps of the English throne, or mounted that of 
Belgium. When England faced the frenzied forces 
of the French revolutionaries the army of her Con- 
tinental allies was commanded by Duke Frederick 
Johan of Coburg, and the name of the Prince who 
defeated Dumouriez at Neerwinden was so execrated 
that during the Terror it was enough to call a man a 
friend of Pitt and Coburg to hurry him to the scaffold. 
The Coburgs refused to bow beneath Napoleon's 
yoke, and as long as the first Empire lasted they 
suffered for their temerity in doing so. Their 
territories were overrun by Napoleon's soldiers, and 
their treasuries were seized ; but when Napoleon 
disappeared they regained their possessions. In 
Gotha the immediate ancestors of the Belgian King 

31 



The King of the Belgians 

held a state no monarch could surpass. Their 
palace at Gotha, Schloss Friedenstein, the palace of 
peace, was the largest royal palace in Germany. Set 
about with French gardens, it commanded a lovely 
view of the Thuringian forest, compared by English 
visitors to that of Windsor Castle. In his journal 
Frederick Stamford described the Court of Gotha 
early in the last century : 

" The arrangements of the palace here are on a 
scale of the most royal magnificence ; the number 
of servants (eighty) in splendid liveries ; the corps of 
chasseurs (thirty) in their brilliant uniforms, green 
and silver ; the duke's private band, besides the 
numerous suite of gentlemen, chamberlains, aides- 
de-camp, and the functionaries, gave sufficient 
indication both of wealth and liberaHty ; in re 
cidinariay neither Brillat Savarin, nor Sefton, of 
glorious memory, could have found fault — a blended 
cuisine, German and French, plenty of fine venison, 
and exquisite wines. Of the court functionaries 
it might be said, implentiae vestris Bacchi pin- 
guisque fermae.^^ 

It was from this Court of Coburg there came the 
Prince whose destiny it was to have for a moment 
the Consort's crown of England within his grasp, to 
have accepted the crown of Greece, and, having re- 
fused that crown at the last moment, to become first 
King of the Belgians and founder of the Belgian 

32 



The Romance of the Coburgs 

dynasty. Leopold of Saxe-Coburg was a cadet of 
the ducal family. He had shared in the vicissitudes of 
his family under Napoleon, he had tacitly defied the 
French Emperor when his power was greatest, and 
fought bravely in the armies of the Allies against 
Napoleon. 

He came to London in 1815 endowed with all the 
gifts the fairy godmother, in her most generous mood, 
is supposed to bestow on favoured babies. His rank 
was of the highest, his personal beauty was great, he 
was learned in all the poHte arts, a brilliant swords- 
man, a brave soldier, a gallant foe, a prudent wooer. 
The Prince Regent of England had chosen as husband 
for his daughter, who was then heir presumptive to 
the English crown, the Prince of Orange, another 
brave man but one who lacked every outward grace 
and whose manners, both in politeness and in 
sobriety, were the opposite of those of Leopold of 
Saxe-Coburg. Fortunately for her happiness Prin- 
cess Charlotte had all the quick spirit and many of 
the wayward fancies of her mother, joined to the self- 
willed determination of her father's family. The 
moment she saw Prince Leopold she decided she 
would marry him, and mocking at her father's com- 
mands she broke her engagement to the Prince of 
Orange and engaged herself to Leopold of Saxe- 
Coburg. The Prince Regent stormed and threatened, 
and he blustered and swore so much that his daughter 
fled from his house and took refuge with her mother. 

33 



The King of the Belgians 

She was fetched back bv one of her uncles, and for a 
time locked up like a naughty schoolgirl of those pre- 

Victorian da vs. a thing which amused her micrhtilv. 
The idea of anyone, even he — Eegent of the kingdom 
and her father — seeking to curb her will — she, heir as 
well as he to the English crown ! The Princess's 
stubbornness outwore that of the Regent, whose 
greatest wish was to evade all worries. He 
consented to his daughter's engagement to Prince 
Leopold and their marriage took place on May 2nd, 
1816. 

For a time this royal couple Hved an ideally happy 
life at ClaremouT, fourteen miles from London. 
Their happiness was ended by the untimely death of 
the Princess, but the Eling's short married life with 
the heir to the English throne influenced his whole 
future thoughts and actions, and has influenced to a 
great degree that of his descendants. 

On his marriage with the Princess Charlotte, Prince 
Leopold had been naturalised an Englishman, granted 
a Field-Marshal's baton in the English Army, and 
given many other English dignities and privileges. 
The dignities and privileges he retained to the day 
of his death, but most of all he retained the sense 
that he was an Englishman, and on every occasion, 
even long after he had ascended the Belgian throne, 
he proudly displayed that relationship to the world. 
On the windows of many a church in Belgium there 
are emblazoned his arms quartering those of England. 

34 



The Romance of the Coburgs 

On the ceilings of the palace at Brussels again these 
arms are emblazoned. The liveries of the Belgian 
Kings are the scarlet liveries of the English Koyal 
House, but above all, what the Belgian royalties have 
clung to most is their close connection with English 
royalty and their share with the English Sovereigns 
in guiding the counsels of monarchs and with them in 
preserving the world's peace, or, when need arises, of 
with them defending by the sword the cause of 
justice. 

Prince Leopold hved on in England after the death 
of Princess Charlotte. His sister married the Duke 
of Kent, and became the mother of Queen Victoria. 
When the Duke of Kent died Prince Leopold became 
the supporter and counsellor of his widowed sister. 
It was he who became chief adviser as to the educa- 
tion and instruction of the baby Princess, whom all 
but the httle Princess herself akeady knew was 
destined to be Queen of England. He remained 
the Princess's chief adviser up to the moment of her 
accession and afterwards he was her strongest coun- 
sellor. He left England to become King of the 
Belgians. He did so to fulfil what he beheved to be 
a great obligation, but brilUant though his prospects 
for the future were, he did not leave England in 1830 
without regret. Long afterwards, when he was seated 
firmly on the Belgian throne in 1847, he revealed his 
thoughts to Firman Rogier, Belgian Minister to 
France, who reported the King's conversation to his 

35 



The King of the Belgians 

brother, Charles Rogier, then newly-appointed Bel- 
gian Prime Minister. 

" The King spoke to me of the fine position he 
had in England when he quitted it to come to 
Belgium, a position which would be magnificent 
to-day, for he would direct the affairs of that 
country. He exercised the greatest influence on 
everything there." 

The close connection between the Belgian and 
Enghsh Courts thus begun, continued unbroken 
throughout their lives. King Leopold II. wrote a 
long weekly letter to his cousin Queen Victoria. 
That King, though he and the Enghsh Government 
differed towards the close of his life over questions 
relating to his colonial policy, sought at all times to 
preserve England's friendship. In his earher days 
he was a frequent guest of the Enghsh Court, a 
frequenter of the meetings of learned societies in 
London ; he was President of the English Literary 
Society, chief guest at banquets of the Royal Academy, 
and an ardent supporter of the Royal Geographical 
Society. It was the recital of the adventures of 
EngHih travellers in Africa which more than any- 
thing else directed his thoughts towards African 
enterprise. It was on the advice of English 
explorers he began his Congo work, and with 
their aid he laid the foundations of the Congo 
State. 

36 



The Romance of the Coburgs 

Whatever differences King Leopold II. liad arising 
from the later development of his Congo poHcy, 
these in no way affected the relations between his 
brother's family and that of English royalties. 



37 



CHAPTER III 

The King's Parents and Childhood 

The relations between the family of Pliilip, Count 
of Flanders, second son of King Leopold I., brother of 
Leopold II. and father of King Albert, and those of 
the Enghsh Kings were at all times close. The 
Count of Flanders was a man who won the warm 
afiection of all the Enghsh who had the good fortune 
to enter into relations with him. A good soldier, a 
cultured art lover, much of a bookworm, an ardent 
patriot who, to remain in the service of his native 
country, refused the crown of another kingdom, 
Phihp, Count of Flanders, went through his Ufa 
earnestly fulfilHng his duties. 

The ties which bound the Belgian Coburgs to 
England were strengthened by the marriage of the 
Count of Flanders with the Princess Marie of Hohen- 
zoUern. That noble lady, noted for her charity and 
piety, was fond of recalling the ancient tradition 
which traced the foundation of her house to St. 
Meinrad, who was born about the year 800 at Sulchen, 
a httle Swabian town. The Countess of Flanders 

38 



The King's Parents and Childhood 

descended from tlie elder Swabian branch of the 
Hohenzollerns. The House of Prussia, whose chiei 
is now the German Emperor, descends from the 
junior branch, that of Franconia, which branched o£E 
from the main stem in 1217, so it can be seen that the 
relationship between the Hohenzollerns of King 
Albert's mother's family and the Hohenzollerns now 
warring with the civihsed world is of the shghtest. 
Notwithstanding that, until the German Emperor 
made it absolutely impossible, courteous friendship 
existed between the two families which bore the name 
of HohenzoUern. That this was so was due more to 
th- I'Vcriotic forbearance of the Countess of Flanders's 
family than to the just actions of the Prussian House. 
Her father, Prince Charles Anthony, reigning Prince 
of HohenzoUern, was obHged in the year 1849 to 
abdicate his sovereignty in favour of the House of 
Prussia. He did so, forced by necessity, to spare his 
State from the evils its grasping neighbour threatened 
it with. In abdicating he said : *' I have sacrificed 
the greatest honour which a mortal can enjoy in 
renouncing the crown in the interest of the country 
that I wish to serve with all the devotion of my 
heart." 

It was not until 1861 that this mediatised Prince 
had his right to the title of Royal Highness recognised 
by Prussia. 

Prince Charles Anthony of HohenzoUern, father of 
the Countess of Flanders and grandfather of King 

^ 39 



The King of the Belgians 

Albert, married Princess Josephine of Baden, the 
eldest daughter of the Grand Duchess Stephanie de 
Beauharnais, whom Napoleon I. had adopted. One 
of this Princess's sisters was the Duchess of Hamil- 
ton, through whom the friendship of the family of 
Flanders and Enghsh Houses was strengthened. 

The Countess of Flanders was fond of telling her 
children of her early visits to London. From her 
King Albert learned his first lessons in the love of this 
country. 

" It was in 1856," wrote the Countess of Flanders, 
"that with my mother and my sister I visited 
my aunt, the Duchess of Hamilton. This was a 
great event for me, an everlasting joy. The first 
day we went to Brussels where we stopped at the 
Hotel de Flandres ; the next day we went to 
London, and the crossing was very bad. A lady 
alongside me had herself placed in a sack and 
closed it over her head. Her husband lay along- 
side her and was very quickly ill. At Dover my 
uncle Hamilton and his sons Angus and Carlo 
received us. The train brought us all to London 
to my uncle's house near the Green Park. We 
spent twelve days there, during which we visited 
all the curiosities of London and its environs : 
Hampton Court, Sydenham and the Palace of the 
First Exhibition. What interested me most in 
all that I saw in London were the skeletons of 
antediluvian animals. The Tower with its historic 

40 



The King's Parents and Childhood 

souvenirs impressed me greatly — above all the 
chamber where they assassinated Edward's chil- 
dren. Also "Westminster Abbey and its numerous 
tombs. I remember having visited the Houses 
of Parliament and St. Paul's Cathedral, where we 
mounted up to the gallery which surrounds the 
great cupola and whence there is a wide view. 
Finally I remember a dinner at Greenwich, where 
they served us with the celebrated whitebait, a 
little fish found only in the Thames. The great 
event of our sojourn at London was the return of 
the troops from the Crimea. The whole town was 
en fete and Queen Victoria reviewed them. Every- 
where where the army passed stands were erected. 
My uncle, my cousins and I were in the crowd 
near Hyde Park, not far from Buckingham Palace, 
seated on very primitive benches. The Queen 
of England and the Prince Consort were accom- 
panied by all their children and by their uncle, 
King of the Belgians, Leopold II., and his sons, 
the Duke of Brabant and the Count of Flanders, 
and his daughter Princess Charlotte. Who could 
have thought then that a day would come when I 
would marry the Count of Flanders — that I was 
seeing my future husband pass ? 

" On leaving London we went to Hamilton, the 
superb residence of my uncle, where the park is 
so immense that every day after lunch, which fol- 
lowed a morning devoted to work, my cousins 

41 



The King of the Belgians 

and I were able to make long promenades on 
horseback or on foot without ever arriving at the 
boundaries of the park. Games were also organised 
which amused me enormously, and we made 
excursions to Edinburgh and its environs. 

" Holyrood, the residence of the Kings of Scot- 
land, made a great impression on me. They showed 
us the bedroom of Mary Stuart, and the place 
where Eizzio was assassinated at her feet, the floor 
still stained with the blood of the victim. The 
rooms are very gloomy, and I understood the 
terror of my aunt who in the early years of her 
marriage Hved there, the Duke of Hamilton being 
Knight-Marshal of Scotland. In our visito to 
Edinburgh, we entered some of the shops, and I 
have still in my possession some Scotch pebbles 
which my uncle bought to present to me. We 
went to Glasgow, that business town par excel- 
lence, full of dark smoke, but very interesting. 
There were there already at this time gigantic 
stores, in which one could buy everything, such 
as were not yet known on the Continent. The 
most beautiful of our excursions lasted two days 
and was to the Lakes. Unfortunately I cannot 
give the exact itinerary, but I know that we saw 
Loch Lomond and Loch Katherine, which Sir 
Walter Scott made the scene of his poem ' The 
Lady of the Lake,' and we slept in the Trossachs. 
After some weeks passed at Hamilton, we went to 

42 



The King's Parents and Childhood 

the Isle of Arran, wliicli belongs entirely to my 
uncle and is an enchanting place. The Goatfell, 
a high rocky mountain, made a great impression 
on me, and the castle, built in the English Gothic 
style, is very beautiful. The vegetation there has 
something meridional about it, on account of the 
Gulf stream which passes quite near it. Its climate 
is very moderate, and the fucshias grow there in 
bushes. The view of Arran was for us children, 
and I think for the grown-ups too, an enchant- 
ment. Every day we made delightful excursions 
there, and we went everywhere on horseback over 
this beautiful and wild country. At the extremity 
of the island there are great rocks which form 
many grottoes. It was in one of them that 
Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, hid himself after 
his defeat and cheered himself by watching the 
spider, which continually recommenced to make 
its web destroyed by other insects." 
In 1867 the Count of Flanders and Princess Marie 
of HohenzoUern were married. They Hved in Brussels 
at first in the right wing of the Royal Palace, later in 
the palace arranged for them in the Rue de la Regence, 
a beautiful and spacious building decorated in a 
sumptuous but pure style. The Countess of Flanders 
was a lover of music and the arts, a painter of con- 
siderable talent, an etcher of exquisite pictures, and an 
appreciative student of literature, while her husband, 
the Count of Flanders, was a real bibliophile. Their 

43 



The King of the Belgians 

life in Brussels, as in their lovely country places, 
passed with tranquil regularity. At eight o'clock in 
the morning the Count and Countess breakfasted 
together. Immediately after breakfast the Count 
of Flanders went to his Ubrary, where he regulated 
his day^s emplojrment and spent long hours in dis- 
cussing questions of history and archaeology with his 
learned librarian, Mr. Schweisthal, with whom he 
loved to discuss the purchase of his books and to 
decide on their bindings. The Count's library was 
an immense apartment. He spent long hours at his 
writing table in one of its rooms, the doors of which 
were draped with satin portieres, whose clear colours 
harmonised deliciously and added to the tranquil 
appearance of the book-lined room. The light which 
entered the Hbrary was tempered so as to preserve 
the freshness of the 30,000 volumes which stood on 
its oak and mahogany shelves, covering in all an 
extent of one mile. The Count devoted the 
gTeater part of his Hfe to reading and discussing the 
works of the great authors of all ages and countries. 
From his Hbrary he would pass to his smoking- 
room or from it to an inner sanctuary in which the 
most valuable and richly-bound volumes were placed. 
Many of the most exquisite bindings of these books 
were executed by the Countess herself, who loved 
to do work which pleased her husband. Learned 
like her husband in the English, French and Italian 
languages and conscientious as he in the discharge 

44 



The King's Parents and Childhood 

of her duties, the Countess was able to co-operate 
with him in the education of their children. 

It was in the Palace of the Rue de la Regence at 
Brussels that were born the children of this royal 
pair. Their eldest child, Prince Baudouin, was 
born there in June, 1869, Princess Henriette, Duchess 
of Vendome and her twin sister, Princess Josephine, 
in 1870. The twin Princess Josephine died, and the 
name of Josephine was given to the next child of the 
Count and Countess of Flanders, who was born in 
1872, and is now Princess Charles of Hohenzollern. 
Finally, in the Palace of the Rue de la Regence 
there was born on April 8th, 1875, the Count and 
Countess's younger son, who now reigns as Albert, 
King of the Belgians. 

The Count and Countess devoted two whole hours 
every day to their children, who joined them every 
morning at their breakfast as soon as they were old 
enough to do so. Their eldest son. Prince Baudouin, 
received his early instruction in profane literature 
from his parents' librarian, and in religious know- 
ledge from the priests of the parish in which their 
palace was situated. At fifteen years of age he entered 
the Military College, and later received a commission 
in the Army, in the Grenadiers Regiment, in which 
when he died he held the rank of Capitaine Com- 
mandant. 

Mr. Godefroid, at present financial secretary to 
the King, was the first professor of His Majesty, 

45 



The King of the Belgians 

King Albert, who was instructed in Latin, law and 
political economy by Mr. Bosnians, LL.D., son of 
the President of the Court of Louvain ; in philo- 
sophy and rehgious knowledge by Mgr. Lefebvre of 
Louvain, and in French Hterature and rhetoric by 
M. Sigogne. Later, when he became heir to the 
throne. King Albert was instructed in the arts of 
diplomacy by Belgium's greatest diplomatist, Baron 
Lambermont. 

King Albert has a perfect knowledge of English, 
Flemish and other modern languages. He is very 
competent in mechanical arts, for which he has 
always had a special taste. By his own desire he 
followed a course of engineering instruction. He 
understands the cop-struction of ships, steamboats 
and aeroplanes, has driven railway trains, and seek- 
ing to enter entirely into the lives of the people, has 
worked in mines. He is a skilled chauffeur, so sure 
of hand and quick of brain that, notwithstanding 
his occasional disregard of speed regulations, no 
accident has followed his daring, and no one who 
sits in a car driven by him is afraid. 

It was the greatest pleasure of the Count and 
Countess of Flanders to walk on Sundays with their 
children in the park of Brussels or on the Boulevards 
or in the country near by, as is the custom of good 
citizens of the Belgian capital. On Sundays the 
whole family dined with King Leopold and Queen 
Marie Henriette, and while the Queen's health 

46 



The King's Parents and Childhood 

remained good and she resided in Brussels the 
family of Flanders were frequent guests at her inti- 
mate musical receptions at which the Queen would 
play the harp, General Brunell, who had a magnificent 
voice, singing and the Count de Borchgrave d'Altena, 
head of the King's Cabinet, accompanying them on 
the piano. 

The Count and Countess of Flanders were very 
hospitable ; at Brussels, in their Ardennes chateau 
at Amerois, and in their villa at Hasli-Horn they 
received largely, and gave many house parties, at 
which young Prince Albert and their other children 
met the greatest of European personahties. The 
chiidien's education was carried out on, fixed plans. 
They were docile and studious and the family life 
advanced with happiness broken only by the shadow 
of sorrow caused by the loss of the little baby Princess 
Josephine. The first great sorrow it experienced was 
caused by the death of Prince Baudouin. 

At the close of 1890 all the children of the house 
were stricken with illness. The first to sufier was 
Prince Albert, whose malady showed itself in the 
form of a dangerous catarrh. The illness spread 
from him first to his sister, the Princess Josephine, 
and then to Princess Henriette, whose condition 
became so grave that it was found necessary to pub- 
lish bulletins of it. For many days the Princess's 
condition was critical, the anxiety of her parents 
and relatives was increased rather than diminished 

47 



The King of the Belgians 

by tlie fears of their friends and the public, who 
besieged the Palace of the Rue de la Regence, seeking 
for news and ofiering sympathy. On January 16th, 
1891, the Count of Flanders was able to write to his 
brother, King Leopold, informing him that at last 
the Princess Henriette was pronounced out of danger. 

''^ the 17th, Prince Baudouin was stricken by the 
illness, and, as is shown by a letter from the Count 
of Flanders to the King,* Prince Baudouin's condi- 
tion was recognised as grave, but not considered so 
gTave that it Vvas necessary to pubHsh bulletins 
relating to it. His illness developed into pleuro- 
pneumonia, and comphcations supervened so swiftly 
t'5\at though all the doctors' skill was exerted to 
save his life, the Prince died on January 23rd, 1891, 
after only four days' illness. The Prince died piously 
su" ' ained by the consolations of rehgion. 

LoS Amerois remains the summer residence of 
King Albert and his family. There in his childhood 
the King passed six weeks every summer with his 
parents and their famihes. So numerous were the 
children and gTandchildren gathered there every 
year by the Count and Countess of Flanders, that 
their family party was one huge romp. The presence 
ot foreign queens — Queen Ameha of Portugal and 

* The Chevalier Ed. Carton de Wiart, the King's Secretary, 
has had the kindness to draw my attention to this and other 
letters relating to Prince Baudouin's death which he pre- 
served by the King's orders. 

48 



The King's Parents and Childhood 

Queen Carolina of Saxony — and reigning Princes put 
no check upon their fun, for these august personages 
were their near relatives, and on the summer estate 
in hoHday time all the older ones joined in amusing 
the young and sharing their games. 

The Chateau of Amerois is reached by climbing 
a high hill from the quaint old town of Bouillon, 
which is built on each side of the Semois. The wide 
road leading to the chateau hugs the forest, some- 
times passing through its outskirts. From the little 
city, which is still dominated by the great walls of its 
ancient chateau, until one reaches Les Amerois, no 
building is met with except the Custom House and a 
miserable wayside inn " La Hutte de Nicholas Dumou- 
hn," a poor old man, for whom the King's mother, the 
Countess of Flanders, built a wooden cabin before 
which she and her children often stopped their 
carriage to speak with him as they passed. 

From the terrace before Les Amerois there is a wide 
view embracing the valley of the Semois, and reaching 
to distant hills covered with primeval pines, through 
breaks in which one sees a summit whence the coast 
of France itseK can be seen at Carignan and St. 
Valfroy. 

Like the Palace at Brussels, the Chateau of Les 
Amerois is filled with chef-d'ceuvres and family por- 
traits and rehcs ; there are paintings of the King's 
father and mother, of liimself and the Queen, and of 
their children and their many cousins. The hall on 

49 



The King of the Belgians 

the ground floor is magnificent. It has a high 
Flemish chimneypiece surrounded by trophies hung 
with Belgian flags and surmounted by the national 
arms. The dining-room is hung with Cordova 
leather ; its chimneypiece was carved by the Itahan 
brothers Lombardi. 

One of the most remarkable things in the Chateau 
of Les Amerois, is the monumental staircase purchased 
by the Count of Flanders at the Paris Exhibition of 
1878. 

Standing in one of the lovely avenues of the park 
is a chapel on the stained glass windows of which are 
pictured the patron saints of the family : St. Albert, 
St. PhiHp, St. Joseph, St. Henry, St. Baudouin and 
St. Meinrad. The carpet which covers the floor was 
embroidered by the Countess of Flanders, the present 
Queen, the Princesses and Dames of Honour of the 
family and all the ladies who during the years it 
was being made visited Les Amerois. Their names 
and armorial bearings are inscribed on a parchment 
ornamented by pupils of the St. Luc school, which 
hangs in the vestibule of the chapel, where there is 
also seen the silver palm sent to the King's mother 
:;^ ■ .'ather by Pope Pius IX. on their marriage day. 

At Les Amerois in the King's childhood and ever 
since until the war caused a break in the family 
gatherings, the royal family and their guests assem- 
bled for dejeuner at one o'clock, and for dinner in the 
evening. The afternoon was spent in excursions in 

50 



The King's Parents and Childhood 

the environs or in long promenades througli the 
wooded walks of the park, where the air is cooled by 
the myriads of streams which cascade down the 
hillside. A favourite morning walk is to the farm 
of Amerois, in which a room was specially furnished 
for rustic receptions. The walls of this room are 
covered with enamelled tiles painted by the Queen 
and the Princesses. 

Hidden among the trees of this wonderful park are 
found beautiful gardens and greenhouses. Any one 
may pass through here ; all day long, in times of 
peace, there is an unending flow of mendicants to 
the chateau, where the generous distribution of 
clothes, money and food is unceasing. It was the 
wish of the King's parents, and is the wish of King 
Albert himself, that all who come should receive 
bounties. But the King's parents were not — and 
King Albert and Queen EHzabeth are not — content 
to await the coming of the appUcants. At Les 
Amerois the royal family has always been in the 
habit of seeking out all those in need who Hved 
within reach of their residence that they might aid 
them. The boldest beggar who came to the chateau 
was not refused aid ; the most timid who stayed 
away was not allowed to want. So great is the 
charity of the royal owners of this lovely country 
seat, that children for miles around know that no evil 
money can cure can exist there. Thousands of 
letters, written in naive language, fill the letter-bag 

51 



The King of the Belgians 

of the chateau. These letters contain requests from 
children, but cannot be classed among ordinary 
begging letters. They are appeals for help to proved 
friends. 

It was not only the beggars who were welcomed 
at Les Amerois — everyone was happy there. Games 
of bowls and other outdoor games in which the 
relatives share are organised for the servants, and 
on family festivals and rehgious feast days the 
villagers are welcomed to similar entertainments. 
At these parties the village children sing songs and 
share in lotteries, for which no one pays any entrance 
money and in which all gain prizes ! 

I write of Les Amerois as it was throughout the 
King's childhood and until this present year, when 
war has forced its generous owners to retire. One 
dreads its present condition, but no news has reached 
us that it has been despoiled and we may hope that 
when the war is happily ended the old Hfe will be 
resumed there amid its family surroundings and 
with its household goods undestroyed.* 



* Unfortunately the news has come since these hnes vrere 
written. The Metropole, pubUshed with the Standard of 
January 13th, 1915, contains a telegram describing the 
sack of Les Amerois " from cellar to garret " by the Germans, 
who, if the news be true, spared nothing, not even the 
portrait of the Kaiser, found in the entrance hall, with 
the autograph inscription, " To my dear Marie " — that is, 
to the Countess of Flanders ; and who took away all that was 
valuable and portable, even the Queen's notepaper. 

52 



CHAPTER IV 

The Prince at the Military School 

Up to the time of the death of his elder brother in ^' 
1891, Prince Albert, who was then seventeen years 
of age, had led a hfe studious but unnoticed. Like 
all continental Princes he was destined for the Army, 
but his passage through it as a younger son would 
have attracted little attention. As it was, it was 
as future heir that he entered the Belgian Mihtary 
School then situated in the picturesque old buildings 
of the ancient Abbaye de la Cambre, in the hollow 
near the ponds which form such a pleasing view 
fTom the Avenue Louise, near the entrance to the 
Bois de la Cambre. The Prince was even then imbued 
with the consciousness of his duties. His constant 
preoccupation gave him a shy and hesitating air, 
the cause of which men long mistook. It was a 
tall, lanky, almost ungainly youth, whom his tall and 
commanding uncle, King Leopold II., introduced 
in a set speech to his future schoolfellows and masters. 
King Leopold was an apt speaker and his allusions, if 
the mihtary students laughed at them, brought 
ready blushes manthng to the Prince's cheeks. 

53 



The King of the Belgians 

The Belgian Army in its officers was even then 
democratic. Save for the crack regiments of the 
Guards and Lancers, most of whose officers belonged 
to the nobihty, its officers were drawn almost entirely 
from the lower middle classes. Outsiders did not 
until quite recently take the Belgian Army as a 
serious one, but the Belgians themselves did, and 
have always done so. While the officers' pay was 
small and their promotion slow, their work was always 
hard and their chances of gaining glory remote. 
The wearing of epaulettes in Belgium brings with 
it no brevet of nobihty. If a man who enters the 
Belgian Army as an officer belongs by birth to the 
noble class, he naturally mixes with his peers, but 
an officer who is not by birth a noble or whose riches 
are not sufficiently great to enable him to bridge 
the gulf which socially separates the noble from the 
other classes, he remains an outsider. Therefore 
while those nobles who sought a mihtary career 
confined themselves to the crack regiments, few of 
the fairly well-to-do middle classes joined the other 
regiments, and for the most part Prince Albert's 
fellows at the mihtary school were drawn from the 
ranks, as has been said, of the smaller middle class — 
good, sturdy lads, well-bred enough, but with Uttle 
knowledge of the home Hfe or manners of the upper 
classes. These were shy at first at having to mix 
with the young Prince and the Prince's seeming 
timidity did not at the first moment help to set them 

54 



The Prince at the Military School 

at their ease. But they speedily found out that he 
was not only a good fellow but one seriously devoted 
to his career. In England up till yesterday — that is 
in the piping times of peace — when swotters were hated 
by all schoolboys, whether at Woolwich, Sandhurst, 
Eton or St. Paul's — a Prince determined to study pro- 
foundly would soon be taught his place, especially if he 
invited his fellows, with transparent sincerity, to do 
so without hesitation. He would then be set down 
as something even worse than a swotter — a prig. 
In Belgium, however, even schoolboys take things 
seriously and the paths of all were smoothed by the 
Prince's desire to study, and made gay by his desire 
to be treated by his fellows as one of themselves. 

Study at the Belgian MiUtary School does not 
exclude play, and ragging is as prevalent there as 
in any institution in England. Once they were 
convinced that the Prince was earnest in his wishes, 
his fellows set out to satisfy them, and they did so 
to the full. He was ragged right gloriously, given 
a nickname which still chngs to him amongst those 
who were his fellows in these early days, and he 
bravely bore it all. His parents saw to it that, so 
far as they could help it, his wish to fill the place 
of an ordinary pupil should be satisfied. He did not 
live in the school, it is true, and naturally he had 
his special tutor, but in all things else he was treated 
exactly the same as the other pupils. He wore the 
same uniform as they did — a becoming one, it may 

55 



The King of the Belgians 

be said ; shared their meals as well as their lessons, 
and his pocket money was no larger than that of the 
average boy amongst them. This, perhaps, was the 
one thing which Prince Albert regretted, for he was 
at all times generous, and he would have hked to 
share abundantly cigarettes and other cadets' dehghts 
with those whose pocket money was below the average. 
However, he did his part and he passed through the 
school with credit, winning the respect of his masters 
and the love of his schoolfellows which he has 
retained up to the present, for he is one of those who 
never drops an old friend. 

The pupils of the Military School held no rank 
higher than private soldier, and salute, and are 
subject to the commands of, the lowest non-commis- 
sioned officer in the regular army. Prince Albert 
never forgot this when he was a schoolboy, and he 
was most punctiHous in the discharge of his duties 
towards his superiors, both non-commissioned and 
commissioned. It was not only his fellow-school- 
boys and superiors whose respect and love he gained ; 
he gained also that of all the common soldiers with 
whom he came into contact. The Belgian Army 
in those days was very different from the Belgian 
Army of to-day. It existed largely on paper and 
even on paper it did not amount to 100,000 men. 
The entrance to the MiHtary School was by com- 
petitive examination, but large exceptions were made 
and facilities given to the sons of officers. There 

56 



The Prince at the MiHtary School 

was always a military caste, though one with few 
privileges of caste, in the country. 

Private soldiers were recruited nominally by a 
voluntary system, but since there were then few 
volunteers it was really one formed by conscription. 
However, only the poorest classes served in it. The 
number of men required every year for the army 
was infinitely less than the number of young men of 
fit age and physique. Therefore, instead of caUing 
up all to serve, an annual lottery was held, those 
only who drew the numbers from one up to the 
required amount being nominally obliged to serve. 
Even those had not to serve if they could pay for 
substitutes. The Government, with a keen eye to 
the main chance, required everyone who had to take 
part in the lottery and who, if they drew what was 
called a bad number — that is one obHging them to 
serve — would buy a substitute, to deposit a certain 
sum with them which would go towards the payment 
of the substitute were one ultimately required, 
or be retained by the Government for its own profit 
if no substitute was required. If those who had 
made such payments drew a good number freeing 
them from service they heard no more of the matter. 
If they drew a bad number a substitute was provided 
for, and they had to make a further payment to him 
of about £40, the total cost to them of the substitute 
being between £60 and £70. 

The Belgians are a thrifty people. Service in the 

57 



The King of the Belgians 

army extended over several years, and it is only 
the very poor who could not earn in that period more 
than double the cost of a substitute. Therefore all 
but the very poorest, and those few who were keen 
on service in the ranks, either from their savings or 
by borrowing, found the money to buy substitutes. 
The result was that outside of the service itself, the 
army was held in little esteem. The marvellous 
thing is that imder such a system its morale remained 
good. 

The wiser citizens of Belgium and each of its Kings 
hated this system and worked for its abohtion. 
King Leopold II. went far towards achieving it. 
His very last act when he lay dying was to sign a 
new law which worked towards this end. One of 
the first and most beneficial acts of King Albert's 
reign was its total abolition. But while Prince 
Albert was a military student the system was in 
fuU force and the army was recruited from what 
would be called the dregs of the people, were it not 
that in Belgium the dregs were so few, even amongst 
the poorest, that they were neghgible. 

Although he hated the system which brought most 
of the common soldiers into the army, the Prince 
did not share the contempt too commonly held by 
his fellow pupils and the officers of the army for 
those whom poverty or a desire to serve had led to 
ofier themselves as paid substitutes, or, as it was 
called in Belgium, " to sell their skin." 

58 



The Prince at the Military School 

Ofl&cers were too fond of showing their contempt 
for the paid volunteer and their admiration for those 
few who though they could buy substitutes had 
chosen to perform their duty and serve when the 
lots they drew designed them for service. The 
Prince treated all soldiers equally. His doing so 
won the love for him which the Belgian Ai-my 
manifests so well to-day and which has contributed 
in no small way to its glorious achievements in the 
present war. 



59 



CHAPTER V 

Studies and Travels of an Heir- Apparent 

As has been told the early education of King Albert 
was conducted most carefully by tutors chosen by 
his parents, and under his parents' eyes. As he 
approached manhood he probably knew more than 
most boys of his age who have passed through public 
schools and universities ; but excessive conscientious- 
ness has ever been his characteristic, and when the 
death of his elder brother made him heir to the 
throne he felt that his knowledge of what a King 
should know was in many ways deficient, and set 
himself to study with intense earnestness. A King 
must be a soldier and a diplomatist above all things. 
His mihtary education was directed by General J. 
Jungbliith with a good sense and firmness, which the 
King himseK was the first to appreciate and for which 
he has remained ever grateful. General Jungbliith 
was at that time Chief of the Staff of the Belgian 
Army ; he is now King Albert's chief adviser. 

x^L education in diplomacy Prince Albert sat at the 
feet of Baron Lambremont, who won for Belgium the 

6Q 



Studies of an Heir- Apparent 

freedom of the Scheldt and was universally admitted 
to be Belgium's chief diplomatist and one of the 
greatest in Europe. Under General Jungbliith the 
Prince had as instructor M. Sigogne, who is supposed 
to have imbued him with many of his principles and 
whose work on sociology with very advanced Liberal 
or Socialist tendencies, which was pubHshed while he 
was still in the Prince's entourage, is beUeved to have 
expressed the Prince's views, if not to have been 
directly inspired by the Prince himself. 

For political economy he studied, and still studies, 
the questions of the day with that profound econo- 
mist, M. Waxweiler, Director of the Solvay Institute 
at Brussels, a Sociological Institute founded by the 
great Liberal manufacturer and milHonaire, M. Solvay. 

In his desire for learning and information Prince 
Albert sought as instructors the men most eminent 
in their particular paths. In Belgium, a country 
which, until German burnings and other happenings 
took place, possessed Catholic, Freemason, Unde- 
nominational, Liberal and Socialist Universities, 
there were learned men of equal, or almost equal, 
eminence belonging to every party and shade of 
rehgion, but it so happened that those whom King 
Albert chose for his advisers were for the most part 
men of marked Liberal or even Socialist tendencies. 
This was commented on adversely, whereupon the 
Prince went to M. Beernaert, ex-Prime Minister, 
leader of the moderate Cathohcs and one of the wisest 

61 



The King of the Belgians 

men in Belgium, to seek his advice. The advice 
given to the Prince was good. Mr. Beernaert coun- 
selled him not to dismiss the professors in whom he 
trusted or to moderate his friendly intercourse with 
the learned men whom he respected, but to add to their 
number some whose CathoHcity could not be ques- 
tioned. Thenceforward, at the Prince's invitation, 
there came regularly several times a week to discuss 
questions of sociology with him, two clergymen, 
Father Veersmerch, the learned Jesuit Sociologist 
and Economist — whose writings on the Congo, in 
which criticism of King Leopold was not spared, are 
perhaps better known than his still more valuable 
statistical works on the Belgian Working Classes — 
and the learned Dominican, Father Eutten. The 
visits of these clergymen were quite as constant as 
those of the Liberal professors, but, the clergymen 
mixing less with the world and society, they were 
not so much noised abroad, and the erroneous im- 
pression remained that the Prince drew his informa- 
tion only from Liberal sources of knowledge. 

" The Prince did everything a prince should do," 
says a Belgian writer. "He had his mihtary 
education at the National Military School hke all 
Princes. He had seriously accomplished a term 
of service in the army hke all Princes. At his 
majority he made the grand tour, like all Princes, 
but he did not, Hke all Princes, even write a 
book." 



Studies of an Heir- Apparent 

This is true, but yet conveys a false impression. 
The Prince's travels were very unhke those which 
most Princes take. In 1898 he travelled in America, 
where, under the guidance of the great railroad 
magnate and art lover, Mr. James J. Hill, he made a 
serious study of railroad matters. 

In 1908 he went to Belfast and to the other great 
ports of the United Kingdom, disguised, it is said, 
as a newspaper reporter, in order to carry out un- 
trammelled investigations into ship-building and the 
lives and conditions of ship-builders and fishermen. 

In the first speech he made in the Senate it will be 
found that he spoke of his investigations in England 
into these matters. 

His travels all over Europe to the various Courts as a 
Prince were of course of a princely nature, but his 
voyage to the Congo was again of a most practical 
kind and bore fruitful results, most beneficial to the 
natives. 



63 



CHAPTER VI 

Travel in the Congo 

On Monday, August 16th, 1909, Antwerp, Belgium's 
greatest port, was en fete. From every house in the 
city, from every ship in the docks and at the quays, 
flags floated gaily. The whole population of Antwerp, 
and many from other parts of Belgium, pressed 
towards the quays to meet the incoming Congo 
steamer, the BruxdlesvUle. They were hastening to 
witness and welcome what the Antwerp papers of 
the moment called the " joyeuse entree of Prince 
Albert." It was truly a great day for the Belgian 
people, and, perhaps, the happiest in the lives of 
many, for they realised that the Prince's re-entry 
from his successful voyage to the Congo marked the 
commencement of a new and great era in their history. 
That voyage commenced on April 3rd at South- 
ampton, and terminated at Antwerp on August 
16th. From Broken Hill to Boma he travelled for 
eighty-two days, following a route which extended 
over 2,720 miles, covering 750 miles on land, 1,570 
miles on the rivers, and 400 by rail. 

64 



Travel in the Congo 

In founding his Congo state King Leopold had 
been animated by noble ideas, and much of the work 
carried out in the Congo under his directions was 
most noble. What the King did for the natives' 
good, and for the development of the Congo, for 
the advancement of the interests of the Belgian 
nation there, can be denied by no just man. But 
there were accusations brought against the Congo 
Government which, true or false, weighed heavily 
on the upright and humane Belgian people. They 
hailed ^vith joy the announcement that Prince Albert, 
heir not only to the Belgian throne, but at that time 
heir also by the will of King Leopold, its founder, to 
the absolute sovereignty of the Congo, had resolved 
to go to the Congo himself, accompanied only by his 
personal and trusted advisers, and by boat, on foot, 
and on bicycle, to travel through the country from 
one end to the other, examining into everything, 
and seeing everything with his own eyes ; listening 
to all the natives had to say, and informing himself, 
without heeding personal interests or official protests, 
what the real condition of the country was, and what 
should be done to remedy the natives' grievances, 
if native grievances existed. For they reahsed that 
having seen the state of the country, a conscientious 
Prince when he became Sovereign would insist that 
any fault which existed in its government was instantly 
and completely remedied. It was for this reason 
that, with still greater joy than they had evinced 

65 



The King of the Belgians 

at the announcement of his departure, they welcomed 
his return from the voyage successfully achieved. 
In the eyes of all the world the success of the voyage 
was evident. No hitch had marred it. While the 
Prince was traversing the coimtry from east to west, 
from the Rhodesian frontier downward by the great 
river to the sea, the Belgian Colonial IMinister, M. 
Jules Renkin, accompanied by his wife, was travelhng 
upwards in the opposite direction, also to see the 
country for himself. The hardships each faced were 
similar. They proved too severe for the Minister, 
who had to discontinue his voyage and return to 
Brussels earlier than he intended, though not before 
he had gained an insight into the condition of the 
country. The robust constitution of the young 
Prince enabled him to sustain ^ith ease and even 
gaiety all the myriad inconveniences of travel in the 
savage, equatorial country. As he passed along he 
pried and peered into everything. If ever there was 
a chiel taking notes amongst the officials, the factors 
and the missionaries of the Congo State, Prince 
Albert was he, but he did his princely prying with 
such complete diplomacy and m'bane courtesy, he 
charmed all and affrighted none. To the white 
women of the Uttle Belgian community his coming 
was an ever memorable event. He was never too 
busy or too fatigued to play his part at the receptions 
they arranged in his honoiu*. Above all, with the 
natives his coming was a success. The savages are 

66 



Travel in the Congo 

not too savage to know what a great King is, or to 
comprehend what a benefit the personal visit of a 
benevolent Prince can prove. The news spread far 
and fast that " He, the tall Man, Breaker of Stones," 
for such was the title they gave him, was in the Congo. 
From all parts the natives flocked to see him, some 
with tales of evil treatment to be redressed, others 
with claims of petty chieftancy to be allowed, all 
hugely curious. All left the Prince's presence de- 
lighted. " The Tall Man, Breaker of Stones " was 
not yet sovereign and could not confer land or special 
privileges, but he could distribute smiles and gifts, 
which he did most liberally. Moreover, he laughed 
and joked with all, until his name became traditional, 
and to this day the natives swear he is the greatest of 
Kings and the best of good fellows. 

The Prince's return was auspicious. Princess 
Elizabeth met her husband at Teneriffe, and her 
meeting with him on his return from his long voyage 
was one which left a most pleasing impression on all 
who witnessed it. At Teneriffe the Princess had put 
out in an electric launch from the port to meet the 
Prince's steamer, and as soon as it was alongside she 
had run up the ladder which was let down from the 
side of the great ship, and flung herself into her hus- 
band's arms with a display of love which was clearly 
genuine. 

On the morning of the arrival at Antwerp the air 
rang with vivas as royalty after royalty arrived to 

67 



The King of the Belgians 

meet the Prince. The Prince's mother, the Countess 
of Flanders, came accompanied by her little sons 
Leopold and Charles, and the little Princess Marie 
Jose ; the Duke and Duchess of Vendome and a large 
suite also came. 

On the Quay Jordans a marquee was erected, 
and there the Princes and the high functionaries of 
the Government awaited the arrival of the steamer. 
At two o'clock the boat was moored at the quay ; 
on its poop stood the Prince in the full uniform of 
a general, to which grade he had been promoted but 
one or two days previously by his uncle the King, 
accompanied by the Princess and his companion on 
the voyage, Baron de Moor. His mother and children 
went on board, and most afiectionate greetings passed 
between them, both the Prince and the Princess 
being deeply moved. The whole party disembarked 
immediately ; the Prince was then welcomed in a 
set speech dehvered by the Burgomaster of Antwerp, 
who spoke in Flemish. The Prince replied to him 
in Flemish also. He said : 

" I am profoundly touched by the welcome you 
have accorded me. I thank you for the amiable 
words you have pronounced in the name of the 
town of Antwerp. My wife unites with me in 
expressing to you our thanks. Like me, she will 
sign with pleasure your Golden Book. Say to 
the population of Antwerp that this day will 
remain unforgettable for us ; say how much I have 

68 



Travel in the Congo 

been moved this morning in returning to the 
country, by the magnificent spectacle of this vast 
port — the artery of our commerce and our in- 
dustry, which unites Belgium with every corner 
of the globe. I feel a special pleasure in finding 
myself here again. Have not the citizens of 
Antwerp been among the first to understand that 
a colonial pohcy is necessary to Belgium ; have 
they not always seconded the King in the accom- 
plishment of his daring and incomparable work ? 
Twenty-two years ago King Leopold II., sustained 
by an unyielding energy, tackled the problem of 
the colonisation of Central Africa with remarkable 
perspicacity. History will never forget that the 
King, with his eyes fixed on the future of Belgium, 
has solved the problem by associating the Belgians 
with his patriotic efforts. I was full of hope for 
the future of the Congo, but what I saw there has 
surpassed my hopes. I have traversed our colony 
from one end to the other. I am still under the 
influence of that marvellous country. From the 
high plateaux of the Katanga to the mouth of the 
Congo, Nature has given in that magnificent country 
inexhaustible resources to men of energy and 
initiative. My conviction is that the colony will 
contribute to the prosperity of Belgium. Without 
doubt, sacrifices will be necessary, but they will 
be fruitful. Besides, in the life of races every step 
in progress is marked by new efforts and sacrifices. 

6d 



The King of the Belgians 

It is in piu'suing the moral elevation of the natives, 
in amehorating their material situation, in com- 
bating the evils from which they suffer, and 
multiplying the ways of communication — that we 
will assure the future of the Congo." 
This, of course, was an official speech, but there 
was much in it worth citing to-day, when Antwerp 
is so strangely situated. It is pleasing, and, at the 
same time, sad to remember how proud and gay the 
great city was. Antwerp has a character quite her 
own — those who call her Germanic are strangely 
mistaken. Those in Belgium who know Antwerp 
best, and hke to mock in kindly manner at its 
citizens for what is most characteristic in them, call 
them senors, and truly there is something of Spanish 
dignity and the enjoyment of Hfe which is found in 
Spain, lingering still in the city which the Spanish 
ruled over long. But, above all, Antwerp is Flemish, 
as, by the speeches in Flemish, the Prince and Burgo- 
master took care to mark that day. 

The touch of real affection between the Prince 
and people, and the family touch which the Prince's 
httle children gave to the ceremony was most marked. 
Street vendors throughout the day were seUing 
picture postcards of the Royal Family, and crying 
out : " I will sell you the family of Prince Albert 
for a penny." 

At that time the httle Prince Leopold was a grave 
young man of eight. His brother Charles was some- 

70 



^-K^ 



Travel in the Congo 

what gayer, but gayest of all was the Princess Marie 
Jose. A sad catastrophe almost marred her gaiety. 
At Antwerp the grave and reverend Burgomaster 
presented each of the royal party with a large album, 
specially prepared with views of the city and port. 
Princess Marie Jose cared Uttle about books, but the 
cardboard boxes, nearly as big as herself, which held 
them took her fancy, and, in the prettiest manner 
possible, she begged for them. It was at the Brussels 
Railway Station that disaster befel her — she lost her 
doll. She and a journaUst started off to look for 
it. In the midst of their search they were disturbed 
by an agitated aide-de-camp who rushed up, saying : 
" Your Royal Highness, your mother wants you.'* 
Sadly, but immediately, her Royal Highness, aged 
three, toddled off. Obedience is enforced in the 
royal nurseries of Belgium. 



71 



CHAPTER VII 

The Peince's Public Life 

Prince Albert's first appearances, on his own 
initiative, before the pubHc were those of a philan- 
thropist. The life of an heir-apparent is difficult, 
the life of an heir-presumptive is exceedingly difficult, 
and the Prince's path during his uncle's reign was 
no easy one. King Leopold never ceased to regret 
the death of his only son. He did not treat his 
heir in any manner other than was proper, but the 
Prince and his parents wisely felt that it was right 
to show excessive respect for the King's wishes, and 
deference to him. The result was, that while eager 
to take his part in the nation's work, the Prince 
placed a restraining hand upon himself. He showed 
himself at all times the most conscientious of men. 
From the mom.ent that his brother's death made him 
heir to the throne he threw himself into his studies 
of the difficult craft of kingship in a thorough manner. 
His parents had taught him to take a real interest 
in the welfare of the poor, his marriage with Princess 
Elizabeth, philanthropic daughter of a philanthropic 

7-2 



The Prince's Public Life 

father, increased his bent towards philanthropy. 
Unintentionally, doubtless, the Prince and his wife 
specialised in their philanthropy. The Princess 
took women and children under her special care. 
Prince Albert made himself the protector of fisher- 
folk. 

The Count of Flanders died on November 17th, 
1905. In the following month, debates upon the 
standing and career of Prince Albert were raised in 
both the Chamber and the Senate on the occasion 
of the granting of his annual allowance. The Civil 
List of the King remained at £132,000 ; that of 
Prince Albert's mother was left unaltered at her 
husband's death at £2,000 ; that of the new heir to 
the throne was fixed, on the Government's proposal, 
at £8,000. The sum was not an excessive one, but 
some Liberals and all the SociaHsts opposed it on 
the strange grounds that the Prince's grandfather, 
King Leopold I., had made good and prudent use 
of the sums allowed to him for his Civil List. It 
was not pretended that King Leopold I. had failed 
to fulfil his duties as a King, had been wanting in 
generosity, or had hved shabbily, but it was said 
that although he kept up a fitting royal state, he, 
who had come penniless to Belgium, had died worth 
£3,000,000, which he bequeathed to his children, 
the major portion of which should now descend to 
Prince Albert. 

King Leopold I. had come, it is true, penniless to 

73 



The King of the Belgians 

Belgium, but lie had done so because Le placed his 
faith in the Belgians and Belgian generosity. He 
had resigned a magnificent income and high position 
in England to ascend the Belgian throne at a moment 
when Belgium was at war with a powerful neighbour, 
and the stabihty of that, then, newly-created king- 
dom was more than doubtful. 

The debate which took place in the Chamber 
in the closing days of December, 1905, bore the 
strongest proof of the good quahties, as well as the 
popularity with all classes, of the Prince now heir 
to the throne. 

Praise by the Government of the young Prince and 
his actions might be looked upon as official and 
discounted, but the speeches of those who declared 
themselves RepubHcans and Socialists and attacked 
the vote were just as full of praise and lacking in 
blame as anything the Prime Minister himself had 
said, and their sincerity is beyond doubt. 

" I oppose this vote," said M. Daens, a rabid 
Radical, speaking in Flemish, " because by passing 
it you vrill make the Prince hateful. In passing 
such a vote which calls for fresh taxation we, the 
men of the people, who know our poor classes 
and see what they have to deprive themselves 
of to pay the taxes, see our workmen suffering 
Spanish misery — we consider your action worthy 
of scoundrels. Prince Albert does not deserve 
to be made odious in the eyes of the people. He 

74 



The Prince's Public Life 

is compassionate and generous-hearted. I have 
proof of it. Recently I \isited at the hospital 
of Brussels an unfortunate workman of Gijseghen, 
father of seven children. On the advice of one 
of his neighboui's I wrote to Prince Albert and 
received at once a banknote for him. Some 
days later I received from the Princess a letter 
asking me how the sick man was. I rephed that 
he was cured, but that another workman — a 
brickmaker — from Velsique, had taken his place 
in the hospital, and again I received a sum of 
money to help the unfortunate man. Some days 
afterwards the first of these two invalids came to 
me and asked me to give him the money to buy 
a little cart and a dog to draw it. I wrote to the 
Prince again and he sent me another banknote 
for him." 

M. Daens's speech continued for a considerable 
time in the same strain, with similar illustrations 
of the generosity of the Prince and his wife. 

M. Feron, a Liberal of less advanced views, spoke 
in the same strain. His argument was that the 
Prince's income should be suppHed by the 
King. 

" Our opposition," he said, " has no character 
of hostiUty to Prince Albert. We know the good 
he does, but we consider that his income is quite 
sufficient for his needs." 
The Liberal leader, M. Hymans, declared that in 

76 



The King of the Belgians 

accord with several of his friends he would vote 
for the project. 

" Prince Albert," he said, " devotes himself to 
the labours which are necessary to an apprenticeship 
to royalty, most conscientiously. He fulfils his 
duties, neglecting none of the obUgations which 
his situation imposes on him." 

M. Vandervelde, the SociaUst Leader, said : 

" I speak only to reply to the reproach that in 
opposing this new money vote we are seeking a 
malodorous popularity in speculating on the 
ignorance of the working classes. You have no 
right to reproach the working classes with their 
ignorance. Their ignorance is your fault. If 
they were inteUigent you would not be here." 

In the Senate the speeches were of the same tone. 
The Sociahst M. Elbers opposed the vote, but 
praised the Prince. 

" Prince Albert is a good youth," he said. " I 
admit that he occupies himself with pohtical 
economy and Sociahsm, and keeps himself au 
courant with the workers' movement ; tries to 
fit himself for the position he will one day occupy, 
but none of these necessitates the voting of a 
pension to him in such a hurry, while votes for the 
benefit of workmen take years to discuss." 

76 



The Prince's Public Life 

M. Elbers expressed a hope that if people wished 
Prince Albert to succeed one day to the throne of 
King Leopold, the Senate would occupy itself with 
educational laws. The SociaUst Senator, with more 
foresight than the leader of his party in the Chamber, 
declared that if the Prince was to be King and the 
constitution upheld, the people should be educated. 
The vote being passed, no more was heard of the 
Prince in parhament for some time. 

In the closing days of May, 1906, Prince Albert 
was in Spain representing the Belgian Court at the 
marriage of King Alfonso and Queen Victoria. The 
first rumour that reached Brussels that something 
untoward had happened was in a telegram sent by 
the Prince to his wife teUing her that he was in good 
health. The Princess was then in a dehcate state 
of health, and her husband and friends surrounded 
her with every precaution. Yet the telegram 
announcing that her husband, whose robust con- 
stitution led her to beheve no malady could strike 
him, was well, filled the Princess with alarm. 
To her, at least, the news of the attempt 
came as a rehef. Undoubtedly, she sympathised 
with those who had suffered by the outrage ; but 
coming after the first ambiguous telegram she was 
filled with rejoicing at the news that her husband, 
as well as the newly- married King and Queen, were safe. 

The ardour for travelling for purposes of business 
or instruction that marked his forerunners was already 

77 



The King of the Belgians 

manifest in Prince Albert. Returned from Spain 
he remained only long enough in Brussels to travel 
from one railway station to another to resume his 
journey towards Paris, where an official duty called 
him. 

June found the Prince and his family installed in 
Ostend, but for him Ostend was only his head- 
quarters, and before the month was out he had 
sailed in the Prince Charles to study deep-sea 
fishing. 

Returning in July, he raised the question of 
estabhshing an Orphanage for fishermen's children, 
and promoted the purchase in England of a vessel 
to be used as a training ship. This training ship, 
the Ibis, was estabhshed at Ostend. Sturdier or 
happier young seamen than the lads who manned 
it could not be imagined. Prince Albert with his 
little sons mixed constantly amongst them and 
much of his sons' sturdiness is due to the love of the 
sea with which he imbued them, and to the manner 
in which he encouraged them to mix with the sailor 
lads in their work and play. 

Although Belgian men of affairs had fought shy 
of every attempt made to induce them to lend their 
money or give their time to the formation of a Belgian 
Marine, they had, some years before the Prince entered 
into active poHtical life, generously contributed to 
the formation of the Belgian Polar Expedition, 
which under the command of M. de Gerlache had 

78 



The Prince's Public Life 

achieved such success and reaped so rich a scientific 
harvest in the southern Polar regions. 

One of the most prominent of M. de Gerlache's 
companions on the Belgica was the well-known 
scientist Henry Artowski. Like all who have 
voyaged in the Polar regions in the cause of science, 
from the days of Cook and Frankhn to those of Scott 
and Shackleton, the call of the Pole has rung con- 
tinually in Artowski's ears. A Belgian by education, 
affection and adoption, M. Artowski turned to Belgium 
to aid him in the formation of a new Polar expedition 
to the as yet unconquered South Pole. 

Under the high patronage of Prince Albert and 
the presidency of M. Beernaert, the venerable 
Belgian statesman, an international Polar Congress 
was held in Brussels in September, 1906, which was 
attended by the greatest Polar navigators and 
scientists from all parts of the world. 

Prince Albert attended the meetings and receptions 
of this Congress at which good work was done in 
mapping out the future work of Polar regions in 
such a manner that each explorer should aid the other, 
while none should waste his time in following akeady 
trodden paths. 

The heir to the Belgian throne is, as such, a 
member of the Senate. 

King Leopold II., when Duke of Brabant, had sat 
in that body and spoken in it on subjects connected 
with Belgian expansion. He was already in his mind 

79 



The King of the Belgians 

the empire builder he afterwards became in fact. 
Prince Albert followed his example in speaking, but 
sought in no way to rival the performance of the 
Prince who had been his predecessor in the Senate 
and whose successor he is on the throne. His aims 
we now know were as lofty as those of any of his fore- 
runners ; but he wisely confined himself at the 
moment to working for the people in a manner which 
should rouse no jealousy in the minds of the most 
autocratic sovereign, though one certain at the same 
time to win the people's love and advance their 
interests. 

His first speech in the Senate, made in 1908, was 
on the development of Belgian shipping. Speaking 
from his place in the middle of the semj-circle to a 
crowded house, he said : 

" I need not say that all that concerns the 
Marine merits in the highest degree the attention 
of our country. Belgium is dependent on her 
general commerce, and it is by her exports to a 
large extent that she gains her daily bread, and 
literally this is a question for us of hfe or death. 
In order to reach distant markets, we must have 
the power of disposing of means of transport well 
equipped and well organised. From this point of 
view the superiority of national Lines cannot be 
questioned. People are never better served than 
by themselves. A new industry is a real benefit, 
above all when it ccDsiels of an industry unhmited 

80 



The Prince's Public Life 

by its very nature, and one in which several coun- 
tries find their principal resources. These are 
admitted truths. It is a long time since they were 
exposed here with singular firmness by the King, 
then Duke of Brabant. If I resume the same 
subject to-day it is not only because I am myself 
animated by the vivid desire of seeing our maritime 
industries developed — it is because the object 
under discussion leads up to it. It pleases me to 
recall in the first place that our country has known 
how to participate in the elaboration of a new 
international law, following a rule which has not 
failed to gain for us unanimous homage in foreign 
countries. Although our Marine is actually of 
small importance — I would not like to quote the 
figures relating to it — Belgium, thanks to eminent 
jurists, has taken a considerable part in researches 
relative to the perfecting of Maritime Law. These 
studies were the principal objects of two inter- 
national Congresses assembled m 1885 and 1888, 
the first at Antwerp and the second in Brussels. 

" At these Congresses, at which there were 
present notabihties in the Maritime Law of Europe, 
there were adopted the outlines of a code to be 
submitted to all nations with a view to becoming 
on the ocean the world's law. But we know that 
progress is rarely accompHshed by single effort, 
and reahsation of the desires formulated at Ant- 
werp and Brussels has been slow. Far from 

81 



The King of the Belgians 

being discouraged, our compatriots formed an in- 
ternational committee in which all countries having 
maritime interests were represented. I con- 
gxatulate myself on seeing the headquarters of this 
Committee estabhshed in our country. Sub- 
stantial results have akeady been obtained. It 
was the Belgian Government which assembled at 
Brussels, in 1895, a diplomatic Conference in 
which twenty-one States co-operated. The Pleni- 
potentiaries signed a protocol recommending 
unanimously to their Governments the adoption 
of the conventions which were there drawn 
up. 

" In the course of last summer the questions of 
maritime hypothecation and the pri^dleges and 
responsibihties of armaments were studied and 
discussed at Venice. At that time again, despite 
the differences of the laws in force, unanimous 
accord was arrived at. This was a fact without 
precedent, and shows that there prevails all over the 
world a current of progressive and equitable ideas. 
In Belgium we see the Parhament occupying itself 
practically and from various points of view with 
the question of the Marine. For a long time there 
did not exist sufficient harmony between economic 
reahties and legal prescriptions. The progress of 
navigation was impeded because antiquated laws 
regulated maritime transactions. 

" To-day Parhament has before it a Bill on 

82 



The Prince's Public Life 

responsibility and mortgage. It is brouglit before 
us with the deep advantage of thorough examination 
by experts under the patronage of the Belgian 
Association for the Unification of Maritime Law. 
That is to say, that the work in which the Senate 
is invited to collaborate and on which the expose 
of our rapporteur throws a vivid hght, is certain 
to receive the approbation of all those who have at 
heart the expansion of our Marine. This Bill, 
founded on pure principles, responds to the practical 
necessities of the greatest importance, and will 
exercise a great influence on the development of 
our Merchant Marine. 

" In procuring for our shipowners the advantages 
of good legislation, which will encourage their 
initiative and ensure its success, mortgage is the 
real security of the credit necessary to all enter- 
prises, indispensable to those which, like Marine 
armaments require considerable capital. We must 
congratulate ourselves, moreover, on the fact that 
the project contains provision for lighterage. In- 
terior navigation plays a considerable role, and has 
an important place alongside the railways, and con- 
tributes as much as these to ensure the transport 
industry. 

" At the moment when our lighterage industry 
is passing through a transitional crisis, it would be 
opportune to offer to it the benefit of a good law 
on hypothecation and surrender. By appropriate 

83 



The King of the Belgians 

legislation tlie same benefits might be extended 
to constructions which are not commercial, such 
as those made for scientific purposes, as well as 
pleasure-boats. There must not be two laws for 
the same purpose. The affairs of the sea are of 
such importance in a country which has been 
endowed by nature with an extensive and accessible 
coast, that I may be permitted to enlarge the 
debate a little and speak of other co-relative 
questions. The markets overseas belong to those 
who are best organised. It is necessary, then, 
that we should be superiorly equipped. Regular 
lines of maritime navigation are the necessary 
complements of railway hnes and of interior 
navigation. They facihtate the establishment of 
national warehouses in foreign countries ; they 
almost invariably create agencies. To whoever 
might doubt this, it is sufficient to point out that 
the armaments of England and Germany have 
been one of the principal factors of the industrial 
and commercial growth of these nations, and that 
in countries less populous than ours — such as 
Denmark and Norway — economic life is assured, 
thanks to a merchant flotilla which becomes un- 
ceasingly larger. 

*' To point out the way to available capital, 
too cautious up to the present, the Government 
has subscribed a large part of the capital of various 
navigation companies. That is an opportune 

8-i 



The Prince's Public Life 

intervention which I am happy to applaud ; but 
the creation of large armaments is confronted 
by very serious difficulties. Competitors have 
preceded us on the ground of battle. They have 
experience, and the power which success gives. 
They have seized nearly all the positions, and 
they are even installed in our own country. It 
is only progressively, by stages, at the price of 
incessant labour and perhaps at great sacrifice, 
that we can arrive at capturing a part of the 
international traffic which ought to be as large as 
our economic power. 

" By reason of our fine ports, by our geographical 
situation alone, our armaments enter into the 
battle wherever it is hottest. They must com- 
mence in the middle of competition, where very 
powerful companies rival each other to offer to the 
maritime movement facilities becoming daily 
greater. We can therefore only intervene with 
some chance of success by commencing with a 
personnel and material which can rival the best 
existing. Still, this is not enough. That which 
is essential is the special aptitude, value, and the 
practical sense of those who direct these affairs. 
I have had an opportunity of estimating personally 
these superior qualities amongst the men who are 
at Liverpool and at London at the head of powerful 
armaments. One of these, Mr. Norman Hill, 
one of the most competent experts of England, 

85 



The King of the Belgians 

said in reply to me : ' It must never be for- 
gotten that more than in any other enterprise, 
maritime armaments have need of capable 
men.' 

" There is, Gentlemen, a whole capital of methods 
of experience to acquire, and that will demand 
much labour and sacrifice on the part of those who 
clear the way. But the Belgians have never 
allowed themselves to be rebufied for want of 
effort. They have energy, and that essential 
quahty, tenacity. Belgian industry can fight in 
all the markets of the world. We have engineers, 
men of commerce, and workmen of most superior 
quahty. Cannot we also legitimately hope that 
an industry Hke that of maritime armaments will 
grow vigorously amongst us ? If capitahsts have 
iield themselves apart up to the present it is be- 
cause, amongst other reasons, the legal system of 
credit left much to be desired. By the qualities 
which we have proved we possess in other domains, 
we could create for our working population re- 
munerative labour in building up this industry, 
not only those sailing under our flag alone, but 
those of foreigners who come in such large numbers 
to our ports and aliment them. Lighterage so 
important to our own country would not be, 
moreover, the least to furnish its contingent to the 
work of our ship-builders. Alongside of these 
essential objects, the mercantile marine and its 

86 



The Prince's Public Life 

complementary industry, naval construction, it 
cannot be lost sight of that in maritime affairs 
professional education is of primary importance. 
At our epoch, knowledge, which is at the base of 
all industrial progress, has the character of a social 
necessity. In the great maritime countries, the 
technical education of future officers, even the 
recruitment of common sailors, has always been 
a vivid preoccupation of the Government, ship- 
owning companies, and also of pubHo opinion. 

" A sensation has been created amongst us at 
the situation in which we find ourselves from the 
point of view of the training of officers of the 
Marine. We have, it is true, two schools of naviga- 
tion, one at Antwerp, the other at Ostend, but 
theoretical instruction, good though it may be, 
is not sufficient. Practical instruction is necessary, 
which obviously can only be given at sea. Men 
devoted to Belgian interests conceived the 
object of creating a floating school. The idea 
was generous and courageous — we must render 
homage to it. If the results have not responded 
to our hopes, it is not less true that the attention 
of the public has been drawn to a question of the 
greatest interest. The present situation cannot 
be worse — it must be remedied. In order not to 
weaken a good beginning which drew a portion of 
our youth towards a maritime career, the work of 
the floating school should be broadly conceived, 

87 



The King of the Belgians 

one to which the Government would give, more- 
over, a national character. But our task is not 
limited to the consideration only of the future of 
the personnel of the Marine. Belgium, which 
honours itself in having a social legislation protect- 
ing the working classes, has a duty to perform to- 
wards our sailors. Attention has been drawn to 
the danger of excessive loading which have already 
caused certain accidents. Is not a reform necessary 
to protect the Hves of the crew ? In England and 
in Germany there are rules fixing the hmit of cargo. 
It would be a great advance if, in the whole of the 
project that we are discussing, there might be in- 
cluded an international understanding to estabhsh 
common legislation. I permit myself also to draw 
the attention of the Government to the urgent 
reform of the Pension and Assistance Fund for 
sailors. This excellent institution has need of being 
revised and completed. 

" I would like to say another word regarding 
sea-fishing. Those interesting labourers must 
be encouraged, and the fishing industry must be 
supported. The example of most maritime countries 
shows that this activity is susceptible of great 
development. The figures are significant. While 
at Ostend the value of the products of the Minique 
rose in the period from 1895 to 1905 from frs. 
3,400,000 to frs. 4,800,000, or an increase of 60 
per cent, alone, at Geestemunde, in Germany, it 



The Prince's Public Life 

was 180 per cent. At Ymuiden, in Holland, it was 
230 per cent. The way is clearly traced. We 
have vahant fishermen and an immemorial industry, 
but we hardly make any advance, and we remain 
to a large extent tributaries to our neighbours in 
the consumption of fish. We must resume the 
work, perfect it, increase our equipment, ameHorate 
the instruction of the fishermen, increase our 
clientele, and strongly organise our commerce. We 
can never forget that fishing ports are a necessity, 
consecrated by the example of all maritime countries. 
Those of Hull and Grimsby in England, those of 
Geestemunde and of Ymuiden, serve as models. 
In Belgium there is no fishing port really well 
equipped. I regret that the fishing installations 
have been absolutely forgotten in the considerable 
works of the new port of Ostend. That industry 
is, notwithstanding, the principal element of 
commercial prosperity there. 

" The project for a port of refuge at La Panne 
is the object of an examination on the part of the 
officials of Pubhc Works. I hope that a favourable 
decision will be arrived at which will be acceptable 
to the Ministers. Besides — and this brings me 
back to the principal object of my discourse — in 
favouring an industry from which the best sailors 
will be recruited, we are doing work which will 
be useful for the extension of navigation. It is 
thus, Gentlemen, that the problems relative to the 

89 



The King of the Belgians 

prosperity of Belgium appear bound to eacli other, 
not only by the interdependence of tbeir interests, 
but above all, by a unity of view whicb should 
inspire the Government and the nation. In a 
small country it is desirable to raise questions 
above the contingencies of the moment in order 
to prepare a future made by sohd reahsations 
appropriate to the possibilities of our people. 
Conscious of those responsibilities, we will thus 
accomplish. Gentlemen, at the same time, our 
duty as legislators and oiu? duty as patriots." 

This speech summed up the programme of the 
Prince. His public life until he came to the throne 
was based on that programme. 



90 



CHAPTER VIII 

Prince Albert's Marriage 

Early in the spring of the year 1900 Belgian papers 
published rumours of the coming marriage of Prince 
Albert with a Princess of the House of Bavaria. 
The news became official in the month of June, when 
the Belgian Monitor announced the engagement of 
His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Belgium with 
Her Royal Highness the Princess EHsabeth, Duchess 
in Bavaria. Princess Ehsabeth was born at Possen- 
hofen, on July 25th, 1876, and was the second 
daughter of Prince Charles Theodor, Chief of the 
Ducal House of Bavaria, and the Princess Mary of 
Braganza. RecalHng the impressions of the time, 
M. Dumont-Wilden truly says : The Prince's mar- 
riage increased the sympathy already felt for him. 
It was a marriage of bourgeois romance, a marriage of 
love, as much as one of convenience, which united the 
heir to the throne of Belgium mth a young Princess 
of the most noble blood of Bavaria. The Belgian 
newspapers of the day recount with feeHng the 
rustic and homely hfe followed at Possenhofen by 
the amiable Elisabeth, Duchess in Bavaria, daughter 

91 



The King of the Belgians 

of a learned father — for the father of the future Queen 
of the Belgians had taken his degrees and practised 
medicine. The people rejoiced over the young bride 
who had entered the Belgian family, and the sweet- 
ness of her smile, the simpUcity of her manners, the 
dehcacy of her simple charity, conquered the people 
from the very first. 

Duke Carl Theodor, father of the Queen of the 
Belgians, head of the ducal Hne of Bavaria, was 
himself born at Possenhofen in 1830. He was the 
second son of the Duke MaximiHan of the Hne of 
Zweibrucken-Brickenfeld, and was the brother of the 
late Empress of Austria. Although he held the rank 
of a general in the Bavarian army, he was more 
inchned to the science of medicine than to the art 
of war. He followed his studies and received his 
medical degree at the University of Munich, and it 
was such an extraordinary thing for a Prince of the 
Royal House to practise a profession, that it was 
necessary for him to receive a special edict from the 
Empire authorising him to do so. This was granted 
him in 1880. He speciaHsed as an occulist, and the 
very year of his daughter's marriage he published a 
learned work on optics. During the summer the 
Duke Carl Theodor and his family Hved alternately 
at Meran and Tegernsee. The hfe of his family was 
simple, all its members were devoted to good works, 
and made many friends amongst the poor. One of 
the brothers of the new Queen was a priest working 

92 



Prince Albert's Marriage 

as a curate in a pooi parish. Simply though they 
lived in private, when occasion called for it the 
Bavarian family, as well as the Flanders of Belgium, 
could put aside simpUcity and assume all the state 
and pomp of royalty. 

The marriage of Prince Albert was solemnised with 
all due pomp. It took place at Munich on Tuesday, 
October the 2nd. The day chosen for it was that of 
the national feast, when even in ordinary times there 
is an influx of people into the Bavarian capital, who 
encumber the streets and crowd the taverns, pressing 
to the place where the fair is held and public re- 
joicings take place. On the Sunday preceding the 
marriage it was the patronal feast of the King of 
Bavaria, when the national flag was hung out on 
the public buildings, and Te Deums sung in the 
cathedrals. On the day preceding the marriage 
there were gala dinners at the Court and popular 
feasts. It was then the people of Munich saw for the 
first time the future husband of their Princess. The 
Belgian papers of the day describe how on Monday 
evening there was a popular feast before the Palace 
of the Duke Carl Theodor. This PoUerabend, or 
Betrothal Feast, had a delightful stamp of originahty. 
At 8.30 the choral societies of Munich — thirty in 
all — massed themselves before the Palace in a re- 
served place surrounded by soldiers, who held back 
an immense crowd. All the singers held lighted 
torches, and a military band accompanied them. 

93 



The King of the Belgians 

They sang a hymn of Beethoven's, and as the first 
strains rang out the balcony of the palace was illu- 
minated, and there appeared on it the fiances, alone. 
The Duchess EHsabeth is described as being of most 
gracious appearance ; of middle height, she seemed 
almost small alongside the tall Prince, her features 
regular and profile determined ; and as she turned 
towards the Prince she seemed both coquettish and 
serious. For an instant she took ofi her magnificent 
ermine mantle, and appeared in a silk robe embroi- 
dered with large bouquets in white silk. Her figure, 
says the chronicler, is delicate, and although she 
appears fragile, she must enjoy good health for her 
cheeks are vividly colom'ed. Her chestnut hair was 
crowned by a superb diadem of diamonds. The 
Prince was in the uniform of his Grenadier Regiment, 
wearing the cordon of St. Hubert which the Regent of 
Bavaria had just bestowed on him. After the songs 
the delegate of the societies harangued the princely 
couple. As he spoke the balcony was filled with 
royalties. There was the Regent of Bavaria, brim- 
ming over with hfe and humour ; the Duke Carl 
Theodor, the Princess's father, with the hea\^ brows 
of a student and thinker ; the Count of Flanders, 
Prince Albert's father, and the Countess, his mother, 
a tall and noble pair, beaming with joy and pride on 
their stalwart son and his charming bride, and his 
sister Princess Josephine, a tall, golden-haired, grace- 
ful maiden. Next came one ^vith a melancholy 

94 



Prince Albert's Marriage 

profile, with grey beard and the eyes of a thinker — it 
was the King of Roumania. Then another man with 
beard turning grey, who alone of those assembled on 
the balcony was in simple evening dress — it was the 
Prince of Monaco. 

The popular orator terminated his speech by talking 
of the love of the people of Bavaria for the Royal 
House, and referred to the charitable works of the 
Princess Elisabeth. " May our dear princely child 
who is quitting the place where her infancy has been 
passed, love her new country with unbounded affec- 
tion ; but may she not forget the leaves of our 
forests, the verdure of our mountains, our May days, 
and the fidelity of our hearts." 

One whispers still in Belgium that the Bavarians 
remain in their hearts still faithful to tliis dear 
Princess, and the citizens of Brussels tell each other 
that the Bavarian soldiers in their midst have more 
than once revolted, and have been led into battle 
against them with the greatest difficulty. Although 
the pohtics of the Empire have made the Bavarians 
enemies for the moment of Belgium, it is admitted 
by all that few of the crimes alleged to have been 
committed by the German soldiers in the war can 
be laid at the door of the Bavarians. The Brussels 
citizens owe their immunity from insult and annoy- 
ance, other than those inevitable at such a time, to 
the fact that the garrison of their city is largely 
composed of Bavarians. 

95 



The King of the Belgians 

To return from the sad present to the happier 
past, the chronicler of that time again tells how the 
whole population — countryman and citizen — crowded 
to see the marriage. It was at the Royal Palace that 
the guests assembled, entering between files of archers 
in the costume of bygone days. 

The civil marriage was celebrated in the Throne 
Room of the Palace. When the formahties had been 
completed, Baron Crailsheim, Chamberlain and Privy 
Councillor, and Minister for Foreign Affairs, pro- 
nounced the discourse in which he told of the 
ancient relations between Bavaria and Belgium, 
which it may be well to recall again to-day. 

" This is not the first time," he said, " that 
personal relations have been established between 
the house of Bavaria and Belgium. The first 
lasted almost a hundred years in the Low Countries, 
which then included both Belgium and Holland. 
During the following century it was a question of 
the cession of the Low Countries to the House of 
Wittelsbach. In the ballads of the Dutch people 
there is still recalled the memory of the unfortu- 
nate but chivalrous and heroic Jacquehn de 
Bavidre, who could say with pride : ' It is innate 
in me to make provision for the good of my people 
and for the defence of my towns.' At Li^ge, in 
a hospital founded by the Duke Ernest of Bavaria, 
Bishop of that town, appears still the name of 
the House of Bavaria. The memories of the 

96 



Prince Albert's Marriage 

illustrious Max Emanuel who commanded as 
Governor- General of the Low Countries are im- 
perishable. He merited well of these countries, 
which suffered such bitter trials. He came to their 
aid with all his resources and all his capacity. He 
devoted himself to the re-creation of their com- 
merce and industries, not hesitating at the greatest 
sacrifices. He used the resources of his native 
country to cause to disappear from Brussels the 
ravages which that unfortunate city had sustained 
in its war with France." 

From the Throne Room the cortege passed to the 
Chapel of the Court, where the rehgious ceremony 
was performed. The nuptial mass being sung, and 
the Benediction pronounced, the Archbishop in his 
turn addressed the newly-wedded pair. He, too, 
spoke of the union of hearts between Bavaria and 
Belgium. " To-da}^" he said, " the hearts of the 
Bavarian people beat in unison with those of the 
Belgian people." 

On October 5th the newly-wedded pair arrived 
at Brussels. It was two o'clock in the afternoon 
when they descended from the train at the station 
in the Place Rogier. Its decorations were such as 
one imagines will not be seen for a long time to come, 
if ever again, in Brussels. From the forests of 
masts which had been erected around it there floated 
side by side the flags of Belgium, Bavaria, France^ 
and Germany. The good people of Brussels have 

97 



The King of the Belgians 

ever loved a show. Their hearts went out most 
warmlv to the young Princess ; the welcome they 
gave her was spontaneous. 

At the railway station the Princess descended 
fiist from the carriage, and was received by the 
King of the Belgians, the other Royalties, and the 
high officials of the State and the city. The Burgo- 
master of Brussels harangued the Prince and Princess 
in the usual set terms, and in the usual manner the 
reply was made to them. 

The procession from the railway station to the 
Palace was through an immense crowd, partly com- 
pased of sightseers, but mainly of those who had 
come to give a welcome to the newly-married couple. 
Flowers were flung from balconies and strewn under 
the horses' feet, and all went merry as a marriage 
bell. The Socialists at that moment were making 
themselves he^rd with their usual accustomed vigour, 
and it was anticipated that they would attempt 
some sort of demonstration. Those among the timid, 
who knew their fellow- citizens least, feared the 
Socialists might disturb the harmony of the day by 
some overt act as dreadful as that tried some years 
after in Spain ; but under the rule of the Coburgs such 
things have never happened in Belgium. One 
demonstration there was, at the very moment at 
which the Royalties descended from their carriages 
at the Palace. The royal cortege was followed by 
a group of journahsts on foot, and as it passed through 

98 



Prince Albert's Marriage 

the streets some of the journalists picked up the 
bouquets of flowers which were flung to the Princess's 
carriage on the way. These the journahsts, seizing 
the excuse, advanced and presented to the Princess 
as she aUghted. She accepted them, bowing 
graciously. At this moment one of the journalistic 
crowd thought it opportune to raise the Socialist 
cry of the day : " Vive Tamnestie." All regarded 
him. King Leopold stared with astonishment, while 
Prince Albert bowed, saluting gravely. The incident 
was not without significance. 



99 



CHAPTER IX 

The Prince and the Fisherfolk 

Love of the sea, combined with a desire for change 
of air and healthy surroundings for their children, 
led Prince and Princess Albert to choose Ostend as 
one of the places in which to spend part of their 
holidays. Both the Prince and Princess were always 
lovers, and, so far as their station allowed, followers 
of the simple Kfe. To them the Dunes, swept by 
winter winds laden with sea spray were an attraction 
rather than a horror, and winter storms, as well as 
summer sunshine, found them on them. 

There are seventy kilometres of Dunes lashed by 
the North Sea on the Belgian seaboard. These form 
the outworks of the Belgian kingdom. In part, the 
kingdom has been created from them, for far behind 
them hes land over which even in historic times the 
sea ebbed and flowed unchecked. In prehistoric, 
but still recent times, the Dunes were created by the 
unaided forces of Nature — ^the wind fashioned them — 
the flux of the waves themselves aided in their con- 
struction. Later, when the population of Belgium 

100 



The Prince and .the Fisherfolk 

grew proportionately immense, man, avid of fresh 
fields, aided in their construction. From the very 
earhest times along the Dunes Belgium drew on 
sources of great riches. Belgian fishing, one of the 
earhest industries of the inhabitants of Belgium, 
remains the most typical and the least spoiled. The 
hardiest of all the sons of Belgium are her fisherfolk. 
It is no wonder that the brave, nature-loving Prince 
was drawn towards them, and became an admirer 
of their fives and a determined worker for the im- 
provement of their lot. 

There are in all sixteen watering places on the 
Belgian seaboard. Of these, Ostend is the largest — 
all the travelling and fashionable world knows it. 
Yet of the thousands who go there yearly, who 
rejoice in its Casino and admire the royal chalet — 
a building the most ancient portion of which was a 
present from Queen Victoria to the King of the 
Belgians — few have ever noticed or heard of the 
modest villa in which Prince Albert and his family 
passed many happy days before his accession to 
the throne. In this Villa Osterrieth the Prince hved 
a hfe free from all trammels of etiquette and entirely 
devoid of ostentation. Those few trippers who got 
up with the milkman and went forth on the flage, 
in search, it may be, of the early worm, must, in the 
days I write of, often have seen a young man passing 
rapidly along, noticeable by his tall figure — wonderful 
to Londoners and others who wrapped themselves 

101 



The King of the Belgians 

•well against the sliglitest breeze, by the lightnesa 
of his attire whatever the weather — and the swiftness 
of the stride. This was Prince Albert going, as often 
as not alone, to visit his fisher friends. 

Notwithstanding the encroachments of civilisation, 
the building of docks for pleasure yachts, the con- 
struction of quays and piers, the ancient population of 
sailors and fishermen has held its own along the 
whole length of the Belgian seaboard. It is, says 
the Belgian author who writes under the pseudonym 
of Jean d'Ardenne, because it is impossible to root 
from the soil a natural product which chngs to it 
by roots too deep. Every season the moving popula- 
tion flows on to the coast, and every season it ebbs 
away from it as the sea does from its shores, but the 
old fauna, resisting all encroachments, has remained 
rooted to the soil. 

The fisherf oik hve in those cabins which artists love 
— Httle one-storied houses with wide dormer windows 
and green jalousies and red roofs, often covered with 
creepers — amongst them here and there the sails of 
a windmill. Their houses form a long line along 
the Dunes towards the interior, or nestle among the 
Dunes themselves, in the midst of gardens filled with 
sunflowers and chmbing roses. 

Many of the fishing communities retain their 
primitive habits. At Ostend the Corporation of 
Fishermen is subject to the rules of the great fishing 
ports. Those of Blankenberghe are also subject to 

102 



The Prince and the Fisherfolk 

rules, since a dock has been constructed for their 
fishing smacks, which before were beached any- 
where on the strand. Fishermen of Heyst preserve 
the unchanged manners of their ancestors, the 
Menapiens. The bathers' beach is forbidden to 
them during the season, and their boats are anchored 
a Httle further off, where, on the days they do not 
put to sea, they form an imposing hne. When they 
are about to sail the fishermen wade out, their trousers 
tucked up and boots in hand, to the boats, which are 
already straining at their anchors in the rising tide. 
Their going with sails set, full speed before the wind, 
is picturesque ; their return on the tide, laden with 
fish, and the unloading of their hauls into primitive 
panniers and the carrying of it to the market, is 
equally picturesque as at other fishing stations 
are the goings and comings of the crab-fi^hers and 
the sardine-fishers. They are rough men, bronzed 
by the sun, hardened by the wind, their eyes 
turned always towards the deep — despisers of firm 
land. 

At La Panne they have small graceful boats which 
they still beach on the strand. They hang their nets 
out to dry along the hedgerows. At Coxyde the 
landing is done by rough lads mounted on old hacks 
who are trained to confront the waves. 

The artist and the poet have long raved over the 
lives of the fishermen. Prince Albert saw its beauty, 
but he has been more than a looker-on at their lives, 

103 



The King of the Belgians 

for many a time he shared the perils they encountered 
in their little boats, and often sat in their houses 
listening to their tales and inquiring into their hves. 
They Hve contented lives, but poor ones — always on 
the verge of starvation. 

The actual fishing population of the country seems 
small until one takes the size of the seaboard into 
calculation. It is not more than about 5,000 men 
and boys, but there are at least as many women 
directly occupied in various ways in connection with 
the fishing industry. About half of the fishing 
population Hves in Ostend. There their fishing 
grounds are about ten miles from the coast, but the 
smaller boats do not venture more than three miles 
out. French, EngHsh and Dutch fishermen fish in 
Belgian waters as well as natives. Their intake of 
fi^h amounts to about 12,000,000 kilograms a year. 
Of this 8,000,000 kilograms remain in Belgium, 
and it is notable that of the fish taken of! the Belgian 
coast and exported to other countries, Germany had 
the largest share — nearly 1,000,000 kilograms. 



104 



CHAPTER X 

The Exhibition Year 

In 1910, the year after the King's accession, which 
great event is described in the first chapter of this 
work, there was opened in the Bois de la Cambre at 
Brussels a Universal Exhibition, from which much was 
hoped by the citizens of Brussels, and by which they 
gained much, notwithstanding the disastrous fire 
which burned down a great part of its buildings and 
treasures, including the English section. It was 
opened on Saturday, April 23rd. The great question 
throughout the previous day was — Will the Exhibi- 
tion be ready ? — a question that has been asked on the 
eve of the opening of every exhibition, and the 
answer has invariably been the same — Not a quarter 
of it is ready ! The Belgians admitted that the 
portion which was the least forward was that of their 
own country. On the opening day the only Belgian 
portion fully organised was that of the Mint. In 
the French section the Hall of Honour was complete, 
but the rest was incomplete. The Itahan sec- 
tion was neither complete within nor without. 
Some smaller countries, such as Denmark, had their 

105 



The King of the Belgians 

section ready, but of the larger countries the two 
that stood out as ha\ang their magnificent exhibits 
fully displayed and well arranged were England and 
Germany. Eemarking on this, the Belgian Press said 
that Germany was honouring Belgium in having sent 
exhibits which permitted all the world to admire her 
power of producing great effects quickly by well- 
organised labour. 

On the morning on which the Exhibition opened 
the pubhc were admitted to it by the express desire 
of the King. At 1.30 His Majesty himself arrived, 
accompanied by the Queen and attended by mem- 
bers of his Court. The customary official speeches 
were made. In his speech of thanks at the reception 
given to him, the King duly declared the Exhibition 
open. He said : 

" The Exhibition which I congratulate myself on 
opening to-day proves to the eyes of the world the 
immense progress realised during three-quarters of 
a century by Belgium. We see a home of labour 
where the co-operation of genius, daring in its 
creations and intelhgent industry, has produced 
marvels in all the fields of human activity. 
I rejoice for more than one reason at the pres- 
ence of so many foreign exhibitors, and of the 
truly international character of the Exhibition. 
The foreign participation is a brilhant proof of the 
sentiment of esteem and friendship which Belgium, 
industrious and pacific, has won from all nations. 

106 



The Exhibition Year 

By its international character the Exhibition of 
1910 has a humanitarian side, for it appears as an 
imposing manifestation of the pacific struggle in 
the fields of labour and progress where the nations 
tend more and more to compete with each other. 
It is a work of peace and fraternity in which free 
competition has replaced armed conflicts of former 
times." 

At that moment, not five years ago, all the world 
was prosperous and peaceful, all loved each other, and 
all looked to Belgium as the neutral ground on which 
they might be sure at all times to meet in harmony. 
The first of the strangers of note to visit the Exhi- 
bition was Mr. Roosevelt, then newly returned from 
his travels in Africa. He promised to give a lecture 
at the Exhibition, but his time being limited he 
informed the Committee that he would speak for no 
longer than a quarter of an hour, and would take 
for title of his lecture the phrase " Time is Money.'" 
The ex-President of the United States was received 
by King Albert with marked cordiality, and was 
entertained by him at the Palace. The King at- 
tended Mr. Roosevelt's lecture at the Exhibition, 
where the people noticed with some amusement Mr. 
Roosevelt, enthroned on the platform, salute the 
King when he entered and seated himseK modestly 
among the audience. Mr. Roosevelt's lecture was 
not entitled " Time is Money " as had been arranged 
— he entitled it " The Duties of a Citizen." 

107 



The King of the Belgians 

There have been many appreciations of ilr. Roose- 
veh, but there can have been none more naive than 
those of the Belgians, to whom one with his manners 
and way of speech was an absolute novelty. They 
found the opening of his lectoie quite in the ordinary 
vein. It was ddivered in French. But when he 
commenced to speak in Engtish he became himself, 
that is, according to the Belgians, a mob orator ; he 
siarode abont the platform with his left hand in his 
pocket, waving his right in the air. Sometimes he 
directly addressed the King, sometimes he turned 
his back on him ; sometimes he called his audience 
" gentlemen," sometimes " my friends."' His success, 
it may be freely said, as an orator was not very great 
in Bru^els, bat he left the impression behind him of 
being a good fellow. One group of people took him 
very seriously. These were "the real friends of 
peace," who presented him with a solemn address 
beting him to turn from the evil ways of a sports- 
man, and denouncing him for giving his patronage 
to a Congress about to be held in America on the 
subject of glorying in the massacre of animals. 

The presence of Englivsb royalties at the Exhibition 
was prevented by the unexpected death of King 
Edward Vil., King Albert's cousin, whose funeral he 
attended. ^Tevertheless the Exhibition was visited 
by a long Hne of Princes. Every house in Germany 
sent its representative, and every other State as 
weD, from Bulgaria to Monaco. 

108 



The Exhibition Year 

The Exhibition was a huge one, but, as always 
happened at the Brussels Exhibitions, not only was 
there the Exhibition proper, covering a huge extent 
of ground in the Bois de la Cambre, but there was 
a number of subsidiary exhibitions in other parts of 
the town and suburbs. Every one of these was 
visited by the King — not only every exhibition, but 
every stand at every exhibition ; not only was every 
stand visited by him, but every exhibit on that 
stand was examined by him ; and not only was every 
exhibit examined by him, but he demanded infor- 
mation from their proprietors, displaying his interest 
and technical knowledge for their gratification. To 
the King, who was always avid of knowledge, these 
visits must have been very pleasurable and profitable. 
I fear that the diplomatists and others who followed 
in his Majesty's train did not always share his laud- 
able zeal. Queen EHsabeth, who was nearly always 
by his side on those visits, was doubtless as interested 
as he, but long walks through gallery after gallery 
are fatiguing to most people, and those who followed 
the King pitied themselves often, and, possibly quite 
unnecessarily, pitied the Queen. 

King Albert's duties, as he viewed them during 
this Exhibition year, did not end with visiting the 
Exhibition. Brussels, until the Germans came to it, 
was a centre of learning, an important place for 
savants from all parts of the globe. There were 
close on two hundred International Congresses, most 

109 



The King of the Belgians 

of them of great importance, held at Brussels 
dm:ing the year. The more important of these were 
honoured by the King's presence and patronage, and 
the members of the Congresses who attended, besides 
being entertained in the Hotel de Ville by the Burgo- 
master and citizens, were also summoned to the 
Palace, and there entertained by the King. 



110 



CHAPTER XI 

The Queen and the Royal Household 

As has been told in the introduction to this work, 
"King Albert did not mount the throne alone, his 
family mounted it with him." No words could sum 
up the hfe of the King more truly than these. 
They go through hfe together, hand in hand, the 
noble King and his gracious Queen, and with them, 
proudly by their sides, are their dehghtful and 
admiring children. 

The Belgians are a race worth dying for ! Belgium 
is a land worth fighting for. If Albert of Belgium 
were alone in the world, a King without a family, 
no man will doubt he would fight for his people 
and his country as bravely as he is fighting to-day, 
but he has the further incentive to strengthen his 
arm and steel his heart. He is fighting for his wife 
and children ! as brave a wife as hves, as adorable 
children as man can have. 

At this moment the world thinks most of Queen 
Elisabeth's bravery. The manner in which she 

111 



The King of the Belgians 

discharged in beleaguered Antwerp what her high mind 
conceived to be her wifely, queenly duty, regardless 
of the murderous missiles flung down from out the 
sky by dastard German hands, has won the world's 
admiration, but long before occasion rose for her to 
show her bravery she was endeared to the Belgian 
poor as an angel of charity. 

There are Queens who give right royally from 
their privy purses, there are Queens whose gracious 
smiles win ready homage, there are Queens whose 
wisdom men respect, and Queens whose poetry 
nations love ; EHsabeth of Belgium stands out pre- 
eminent at once as her people's Sovereign and their 
most intimate sympathetic friend. 

The moment she arrived in Belgium, a young wife, 
this Princess who is now their Queen stepped straight 
into the people's hearts. The unaffected simpUcity 
of her love for the poor and the suffering, and for 
little children, won them at once. The Belgians 
are a proud people, they would have repelled patron- 
age, disdained charity ; the sympathy of the Princess, 
who dreamt neither of patronage or charity, but gave 
her friendship, most precious gift of all, was welcome 
to them. The Princess's manner was alike to all, 
she did not seek to add yet another to the numerous 
circles of Belgian Court society, but she performed 
her part with calm dignity at every great function, 
and the ladies of the nobihty attached to her person, 
or admitted to her intimacy, were speedily charmed 

112 




QUEEN ELIZABETH 

The Consort of King Albert with her children: 

Princes Leopold and Charles Theodore and Princess 

Marie Jose. 



The Queen and Royal Household 

by her affability. In her, Belgian litterateurs found, 
for the first time in their memory, a Princess who 
studied and appreciated Hterature, musicians found 
in her not only an admirer of good music, but one who 
was herseK a good musician. 

The gift she possesses the Queen shares generously, 
she has shown herself as ready to play for the poor 
as for the King, who hke herself is a lover of music. 
One of her earhest acts in Brussels was to carry her 
violin to the bedside of a sick woman, who had con- 
fessed to her that she longed to hear music, and play 
soothing airs to her. 

From her father she learned much medical lore, 
and gained a practical knowledge of hygiene and 
nursing. This knowledge is always at the people's 
disposal. She has taught mothers how to nurse 
and care for their babies, she has estabhshed dispen- 
saries, hospitals and convalescent homes in Brussels. 
Every year she sent joyous troops of children for a 
hoUday to the sea-side. Every year she summoned 
her proteges and their proud mothers to the Palace 
to simple feasts ; from which they went laden with 
good things. She has rejoiced with the people when 
happiness was theirs. Long before the war cloud 
burst she shared their sorrows and helped to alleviate 
their misfortunes. 

In 1913 a great mining accident brought death 
and suffering to many houses in the Borinage. On 
the very day of the accident a motor-car carried a 

113 



The King of the Belgians 

gentle lady to the house of the stricken ones. Her 
words brought consolation to all before thev discovered 
that she, who entered alone and spoke to them so 
simply, was the Queen. In one house a miner lay 
whose injured arm was badly bandaged and who 
was in imminent danger of blood poisoning. 
With none but the man's homely wife to aid her, she 
dressed his wounds and bandaged them, and r eturning 
speedily to Brussels she dispatched to him her own 
doctor whose ministrations saved his hfe. 

A thousand such instances of the Queen's kindly 
actions could be cited. They are graven on the 
Belgians' hearts, tales of them spring ready to the 
Belgians' tongues. The Belgians wax eloquent when 
they speak of their Queen ; even those of the Flemish 
district who generally are slow of speech. 

Strangers might think the inhabitants of those 
Flemish districts and of the Belgian capital an 
undemonstrative people. They are not so, but they 
demonstrate in their own good time and manner. 
The Bois de la Cambre at Brussels was crowded with 
citizens taking the air on the lovely Sunday evening 
in November, 1901, when the booming of camion 
announced the birth of the first child of the royal 
couple. All coimted : one, two, three, and so on 
until the number which marked the salute of the 
birth of a Princess was reached. The cannon boomed 
on. It was a boy, ultimate heir to the Belgian 
throne ! A foreigner walking amongst the groups, 

lU 



The Queen and Royal Household 

save that he heard cannon firing and saw the people 
discussing it, could not have known that anything 
extraordinary had happened. Not a cheer was 
heard, not a voice raised. The people continued 
their promenade talking eagerly as they always 
do, but nothing more. Yet the birth of an 
eldest son to the heir to the throne is a great 
event, the effects of which reach far amongst the 
people. There are honours given, decorations be- 
stowed, largesses thrown, pardons granted. In 
anticipation of all these, if for no other reasons, the 
crowd should rejoice. 

The foreigner wondering at the calm, seeming 
unconcern of the Belgian crowd could see as he 
walked homewards through the streets near the Bois 
the bhnds of many houses drawn up and groups 
gathered in them solemnly drinking frothing and 
sparkhng beverages. This was rejoicing after the 
manner of the comfortable Brussels citizens. The 
event, though it was the birth of the future heir to 
the throne, was a family one, to be feasted in the 
family, but the windows were left uncurtained so 
that passers by seeing the rejoicing might themselves 
rejoice. 

The event was also a national one, and it was 
proved that the poorest of the nation rejoiced in it, 
in a quaint and simple manner. 

In Belgium, as in France, people do not com- 
municate to their friends the great events of their 

115 



The King of the Belgians 

famiKes, births, marriages and deatks, bv way of 
advertisements in the newspapers. They send the 
intelligence to them by means of printed letters of 
faire-part inviting them to share their joy or 
sorrow as the case may be. In the case of the birth 
of a Royal Prince the bulletin posted on the palace 
door represents the letter of faire-part, the register 
thrown open in the palace hall for the inscription of 
visitors' names ofiers a substitute for letters of con- 
gratulation. 

The bulletin of the birth of Prince Leopold was 
posted on the door of his parents' palace in the Rue 
de la Science, the register thrown open in its hall 
was speedily filled with long hsts of names. Crowds 
pressed to the palace to sign it ; the most illustrious 
jostling the most humble. Immense bags of letters 
of congratulations, from great folk and small, also 
poured in. To each and every one who offered Prince 
and Princess Albert their congratulations, either by 
the inscription of their names or by letter, there was 
sent the printed letter of thanks, which it is also 
customary to send out from every Belgian family 
congratulated on a baby's birth ; and in many a 
humble home in Brussels copies of this letter are 
treasured to-day as pious souvenirs of a great occasion, 
made greater by the people's joy, and the Prince's 
courtesy. 

Dozens of poor folks in Brussels, who had sons 
born to them on that great day, christened them 

116 



The Queen and Royal Household 

Leopold, after the new Prince, and told the Prince's 
parents they had done so. To each of these con- 
gratulations, accompanied by substantial gifts and 
presents of gold watches for the lucky babies, were 
sent. 

Amongst the letters announcing the birth of babies 
to the poor on that same day, which reached the 
Palace of the Rue de la Science, there were some 
which announced the birth of babies just a Httle too 
soon or a httle too late to be inscribed as born at the 
same time as the baby Prince. The writers of these 
letters were included amongst the recipients of the 
Prince's thanks, counter-congratulations and bounty. 

Two other babies came to the royal pair, Prince 
Charles, Count of Flanders, born on October 10th, 
1903 ; and Princess Marie Jose, born on August 4th, 
1906. Never was greater care given to babies' nursing, 
or infants' teaching than to these royal children. 
The Palace in the Rue de la Science in Brussels, in 
which until his accession Prince Albert and his family 
lived in an airy, sunned-in building, facing a pretty 
park and having a large garden in its rear. Its 
brightest and most airy rooms were set aside as 
nurseries. Over them the god of hygiene held sway, 
invoked by the Princess, his learned devotee. 

The less intelHgent might smile at the precautions 
to safeguard her children's health taken by the 
Princess. She was a mother guarding her offspring 
which seemed fragile, one who knew much of the 

117 



The King of the Belgians 

laws of healtli and used her knowledge wisely to the 
full. People spoke wonderingly of special gowns 
put on when visits to the nursery were paid, lest 
malignant germs from outside be introduced, and 
told how grandmother Flanders' furs had to be 
removed, ere that august lady could enter the guarded 
nurseries to embrace her grandchildren. 

Much of the Prince's as of the Princess's time and 
thought was given to the babies, their nurses and 
teachers were chosen by them, and all they did was 
vigilantly super\dsed. The open carriages in which 
the babies took the air were a f amihar sight in Brussels, 
as, later, were the children's promenades in the pubho 
parks and avenues and woods of Brussels. The 
children rubbed shoulders freely with the Brussels 
folk, gathered flowers in the parks, stared with 
wonderous eyes at the glorious toys in the shop 
windows of Brussels, and joyously built sea-defying 
castles on the sands at Ostend just as other children 
did. 

Taken everywhere by their parents to visit schools, 
hospitals, asylums, the homes of the poor, the training 
schools for soldiers' sons and sailor lads, the castles 
of the great, exhibitions, docks, manufactories, ships 
and trains, and, as they grew older, parUament and 
great assembhes, these royal children learned as their 
parents have done, to know, and be known by, love 
and be loved by the Belgians of every degree. Later, 
when he had ascended the throne and the young 

118 



The Queen and Royal Household 

Princes having grown older, the choice of companions 
for them became a matter of much importance, King 
Albert laid down the rule that the lads selected to be 
the comrades of his sons should be the sons of honest 
men who worked, not of idlers, however high their 
rank or great their names. 

Carefully instructed, rehgiously educated, they 
early became very wise Uttle people, but they lost 
none of their childish ways. Their love for their 
parents is very warm and very natural, their awe for 
the kingly office of their father is genuine and was 
not forced on them. They were not taught as 
babies to look on their parents in any other Hght than 
that of a loving father and mother. The story goes 
that when King Leopold died, the younger children 
asked who would be King, and were told by their 
mother it was the best and kindest man in the 
kingdom. " Then," said Prince Charles, " it will be M. 
Peeters." M. Peeters was the steward of the Countess 
of Flanders, a very kindly gentleman, generous in 
the bestowal of fruit and sweets and all good things. 

The Palace in the Rue de la Science was a house 
rented from the Marquis d'Asche, whose furniture 
remained in it. It has a fine staircase and noble 
reception-rooms. The Prince's, and above all 
the Princess's taste, made it a treasure house. 
Here they led pleasant, studious lives — the Prince 
busy throughout the day over books and studies, 
the Princess with the myriad duties of one who 

119 



The King of the Belgians 

led tlie social and plulanthropic worlds. Learning 
and nobility had equal entry to it. Artists were 
welcome there and musicians honoured. The Prince, 
as his duty required, was often abroad and left much 
of the management of their home to the Princess, 
who, when he was away, planned pleasant surprises 
for him, such as the re-furnishing of his study in a 
style she knew he liked. 

All the charitable and all the poor knew the Palace 
of the Kue de la Science. The day of King Albert's 
accession to the throne was a great day in the hves 
of the poor, whose friends he and Queen Elisabeth 
were. They crowded the streets before his house, and 
pressed so thickly into the park in front, to see and 
cheer the new King and Queen, that when they were 
gone there was not a spot in the park where shrub 
or flower had flourished, that did not bear the impress 
of a thousand feet. 

The King's accession did not change but widened 
the Queen's hfe ; her duties and opportunities became 
greater. The children's health being ever a great 
consideration, the royal family moved as speedily as 
possible to the chateau of Laeken, in whose wide 
halls, spacious park and glorious gardens the Httle 
Princes and the Princess Marie-Jose could roam 
at will. There was much furnishing and decorating 
to be done. Leopold II. had rebuilt the palace of 
Laeken, ravaged by fire years before. The re- 
building of the palace of Brussels, carried out on a 

120 



The Queen and Royal Household 

magnificent scale under his directions, was on the 
point of completion when he died, but though that 
King had built and embelHshed those edifices he left 
them bare inside. In the arrangement of the palaces 
the Queen found scope for her energy and taste, and 
when the time came for the reception of royal guests 
the palace and chateau were as charming within as 
they were stately without. 

Besides the intimate receptions at the Court there 
are every season in Brussels a long series of State 
dinners to which the leading members of the nobihty, 
and all the official world — from the Presidents of the 
Senate and Chamber, and the members of the Cabinet, 
down to the Bourgmestres of the suburbs and the 
officers of the civic guards — are bidden ; two State balls ; 
and a garden party at Laeken. At all these functions 
the Queen played her part most gratefully. Her love 
of music, art, and Hterature, her knowledge of science 
and of social questions, and her philanthropic zeal, 
give her subjects of interest in common with every 
guest she entertains. The most notable change in 
the routine of the palace hfe in Brussels, introduced 
by Queen Ehsabeth, was the welcoming to it of 
litterateurs and artists. By Queen and King the poet 
Verhaeren is specially admired and honoured. He 
has often been their guest at intimate parties at Les 
Amerois. 

Foreign guests became frequent in Brussels on the 
new accession. Foreign royalties again flocked there 

121 



The King of the Belgians 

Both King and Queen liave many near relations, old 
and young. These came gladly to Brussels and 
Laeken, paying visits in that incognito which frees 
royalty from the trammels of State. There came 
also many other foreigners of lesser rank, nobles, 
explorers, scientists and poHticians, chiefs of industry, 
and leaders of the commercial world. The visits of 
the Lord Mayors and Sheriffs of London were so 
frequent as to be almost an annual fixture. 

Before others saw a cloud on the horizon, the 
Queen as well as the King knew war was inevitable, 
but hke the King she acted her part to the last, and 
let no tremor of fear or anxiety appear. She re- 
mained in Brussels, Hving her accustomed life, until 
the approach of the Germans compelled her to take 
her children for safety to Antwerp. In Antwerp 
the hfe of the Court went on, with the usual routine 
of State receptions and visits to pubhc places, churches, 
schools and hospitals. The Red Cross work, at the 
head of which the Queen placed herself with her 
usual zeal, although undertaken in a new cause, was 
no new work for her. 

With calm courage. Queen EUsabeth faced the 
enemies' projectiles and their bombs dropped from 
aeroplanes and Zeppehns at Antwerp. She left her 
husband's side there only for as long as was necessary 
to bring their children in safety to England, return- 
ing to Antwerp to remain with the King amongst 
its defenders until the last moment of the siege. 

122 



The Queen and Royal Household 

From Antwerp the Court moved to Ostend, where 
the Queen busied herself with Red Cross work, and 
attention to the soldiers' needs. She was the last 
to leave Ostend. From there she went again 
with her husband to the front in France. In his 
dispatch from Northern France Mr. G. Ward Price, 
of the Baity Mail, describes All Saints' Day of 
1914. 

"It is All Saints' Day; the time 7.30 in the 
morning ; the scene a narrow lane between the 
sand-dunes by the side of a little brick church. 

" The lane was quite empty, when round the 
corner came a sohtary couple walking side by 
Bide. 

" It was the King of the Belgians and his Queen 
walking to early Mass at the little church. Thirty 
yards behind them followed a single officer, but 
except for that a stranger would have detected no 
more of the artificial signs of kingship in the pair 
than that the husband was unusually young for a 
general. 

" Without speaking they came along the sandy 
lane, and as they drew nearer there could be seen 
in their faces the expression of a noble sorrow. 
For All Saints' Day is the vigil of All Souls', and 
Belgium has never known so sad an All Souls' 
Day as to-morrow will be. Not a family but will 
weep to-morrow for some soldier who has fallen 
during those deadly months of summer." 

123 



The King of the Belgians 

Yes ! but not a family that did not then, and does 
not now, rejoice that the good Queen EHsabeth is 
safe and sound by her brave husband's side, aiding 
him in his great fight for his crown and his country's 
freedom. 



124 



CHAPTER XII 

The Visit of the German Emperor to Belgium 

The first State visit that King Albert and Queen 
Elisabeth made after coming to the throne was 
made to BerHn. The visit was paid in May, 1910. 
There were the usual reviews and receptions and 
dinners, but the Emperor suffering sHghtly was 
absent from them, his place being filled by the 
Crown Prince. At the State dinner which was given 
to the Belgian Sovereigns, the Crown Prince, speaking 
in his father's name, assured King Albert of the 
amicable sentiments of the German Government and 
people for the Belgian Sovereigns and their flourish- 
ing country ; sentiments, he added, which the Emperor 
would take the greatest care to fortify. These 
amicable sentiments had found their expression in the 
courteous participation of Germany in the pacific 
competition between the nations united at this 
moment in the splendid capital of His Majesty. 
These sentiments have also found consummation in 
the satisfaction felt by both sides in the surmounting 

125 



The King of the Belgians 

of tlie difficulties which exist regarding the frontier 
of West Africa and the Congo. 

To these sentiments of peaceful friendship King 
Albert gave a fitting and sincere reply. 

The return visit of the German Emperor was paid 
to Brussels in October, 1910. Never were foreign 
monarchs received more cordially by King and 
people than were the German Emperor, the Empress, 
and the Princess Victoria in Brussels. The whole 
city was en fete, the German flag floated everywhere 
— not alone, as it does to-day, but side by side with 
the Belgian colours which the Germans have now 
torn down — and everywhere there were cheering 
crowds. The courtesy and imperial majesty of the 
Kaiser, the graciousness and affabihty of the 
Kaiserin, the charms of the Princess, were lauded 
by all. Everything was done to display the 
great resources of Belgium — her art treasures, her 
mineral wealth, her commercial greatness, her army, 
her Uterature — all were displayed by King Albert, a 
courteous and attentive host to his guests. The King 
took care that the Kaiser should meet all the leading 
men of the Kingdom, and it was specially noticed 
that at the gala representation at the Opera House, 
where members of all parties were present, the King 
himself sought out and presented to the Kaiser the 
leaders of the Liberal party, whom party considera- 
tions had prevented attending the dinners at more 
intimate receptions of the Court. For Brussels, what 

126 



The Visit of the German Emperor 

were considered to be enormous prices, were paid for 
windows from which to view the procession of Imperial 
guests. At the Hotel de Ville the Kaiser was received 
by M. Max, the Burgomaster, now the Emperor's 
prisoner in a distant fortress. Receiving his Imperial 
guest, the Burgomaster said to him, in thanking him 
for the honour paid in visiting the Hotel de Ville, 
the common home of all the citizens : 

" Your Imperial Majesty, the august personifica- 
tion of the people, lover of art and of beauty, you 
manifest by your visit your interest in an edifice 
that our intense patriotism considers one of the 
most precious jewels of architecture that our 
ancestors have left us." 

The Emperor replied, thanking the Burgomaster 
for his amiable words, and for the magnificent recep- 
tion given to them " in this illustrious edifice, the 
jewel of architecture, and a treasury of historical 
souvenirs — " 

" I am happy to salute the town of Brussels, the 
centre of a country which is distinguished by the 
serious and laborious spirit of its inhabitants. 
An admirer of the brilhant results obtained from 
all time by the Belgian nation in the domains of 
industry and commerce, I congratulate it with all 
my heart on the triumph it has won in the recent 
Exhibition." 

At the State dinner at which the feasts of the 
127 



The King of the Belgians 

visit culminated, King Albert proposed the usual 
toast of the German Emperor, in whose visit, he 
said, Belgium found a fresh proof of the affection of 
Germany for their nation. 

" Sire," said King Albert, " the Belgian people 
appreciate fully the amiable interest shown by 
your Imperial Majesty, and they salute the Emperor 
and Monarch so far-seeing and enUghtened, who is 
known so well to favour the brilhant growth of his 
country in all the domains of human activity. 
He desires not less sincerely that relations of the 
most complete confidence should exist between the 
two reigning houses which shall fortify the friend- 
ships of the two nations. 

" As for myself, united to your Imperial Majesty 
by blood relationship as well as by affection, as 
you were pleased to recall to me at Potsdam, I 
know the worth of the sentiments that you express 
to the Queen and to me, and I desire to say that 
we are deeply grateful for them. I am happy to 
take the opportunity of expressing to your Imperial 
Majesty the warmest wishes for your happiness and 
for the glorious and prosperous continuance of your 
reign, and that your noble efforts will continue to 
preserve the peace of the world and thus benefit 
all nations." 

The Emperor replied, speaking seemingly from his 
heart. Those present took special note of the fact 

128 



The Visit of the German Emperor 

that lie spoke in German. After the customary 

complimentary phrases, he said : 

"The briUiant reception which has been pre- 
pared for us by your Majesties and the Belgian 
people in this splendid capital has profoundly 
touched us, and awakened sentiments of gratitude 
all the stronger because we find in this reception a 
subject of close union which exists not only between 
our families but also between our two peoples. 

" Full of amiable sympathy, I, in common with 
all Germany, observe the surprising success which 
the Belgian people has won in all the domains of 
commerce and industry by its indefatigable activity, 
the crowning of which we have been able to salute 
in the Universal Exhibition, which was so brilliantly 
and successfully held this year. The whole earth 
is enveloped by the world-wide commerce of 
Belgium. In that there is a field of pacific action 
in which Belgians and Germans meet everywhere. 
Equal admiration fills us for the culture of the 
beautiful, a domain in which the artists and poets 
of Belgium have acquired such a marked place. 
May the relations full of confidence and neigh- 
bourhness of which the recent negotiations between 
our two Governments have given such amicable 
testimony be still more strengthened. May the 
reign of your Majesty spread happiness and pros- 
perity amongst your royal house and among your 
people. This is the most profound wish of my 

129 



The King of the Belgians 

heart, with which I cry long Hve their Majesties 
the King and Queen of the Belgians. Hoch ! " 
The Belgian people have not forgotten, and they 
have done their best to prevent the Germans now 
amongst them from forgetting these words. When 
the Germans entered Brussels, as conquerers of a 
moment, the Belgians hope, they found the walls 
of the Belgian capital plastered with placards bearing 
a copy of the German Emperor's speech. The 
Germans do not seem to be particularly proud of it, 
for almost immediately after their arrival all the 
copies of the speech disappeared from sight. 

M. Max, Burgomaster of Brussels, who entertained 
his Imperial Majesty with the splendid hospitahty 
of the Belgian capital, must often recall in his German 
prison the gracious words of the Emperor praising 
the magnificent and venerable Hotel de Ville, the 
beauty of which he admired so much, and which the 
citizens of Brussels beheve they have certain know- 
ledge the German Emperor's soldiers have under- 
mined, with the intention of blowing it up on the first 
moment of the reappearance of victorious Belgian 
troops and those of their Allies at the gates of Brussels, 
when they force the Germans to retire. 

The Brussels people were completely hoodwinked 
by the German Emperor's gracious speeches. The 
efforts they made to make his visit pleasant, and to 
prevent anything untoward happening were stupen- 
dous. There were many people in Brussels then who 

130 



The Visit of the German Emperor 

distrusted and as many who hated the Germans — 
there were Belgian anarchists and SociaKsts with 
hatred of Imperial Germany boihng in their veins, but 
those who were so ready when occasion arose to cry out 
against their King, sooner than damage their country's 
material interests, or do anything that might en- 
danger the peaceful relations between the great 
Empire and the State they loved, held their peace, 
and absented themselves from all places through 
which the Emperor passed. 

The German visitors did all they could to check the 
enthusiasm of the German colony in Brussels. The 
Germans estabUshed in Brussels were undoubtedly 
nearly all of them there for poHtical as well as com- 
mercial or social ends, but their loyalty to their 
Emperor, or possibly their desire for advancement in 
the Imperial service, or for the winning of German 
decorations, led them to give a display of the im- 
portance of their estabHshments which the Emperor 
wisely considered inopportune. He could not refuse 
to receive deputations from the German colonies, the 
Chambers of Commerce and the like, nor could the 
German Empress refuse to visit the German charitable 
institutions. The great German school of Brussels, 
which rivalled the greatest Belgian school of that 
city, had also to be visited, but the visits were paid 
as unostentatiously as possible, and everything that 
could be done was done to prevail on the Germans to 
cry " Vive " instead of " Hoch." 

131 



The King of the Belgians 

One State \asit was paid wHcli the Brussels folk 
now look on as almost as historic as that to the 
Hotel de Yille — it was that to the palace of his 
Serene Highness the Duke d'Arenberg. The Duke 
d'Arenberg is a mediatised German Prince, whose 
forbears owned great Belgian estates, and lived for 
centuries in Brussels, where their palace, inherited 
with the estates by the present Duke, is as magnificent 
as any of the Belgian royal palaces. The Arenbergs 
never accepted Belgian citizenship, nor condescended 
to bear Belgian titles. They have mixed with the 
Belgian royalties only on terms of courteous equahty. 
They were the centre in Brussels of a social circle as 
brilliant as that of the Court, much more exclusive, 
and formed by bearers of more ancient titles than the 
majority of those who surround the Belgian King. 
Most of their friends and associates were descended 
from the famihes which were noble in Belgium when 
Belgium made part of the Austrian Empire. 

The social circle of the Arenbergs was strongly 
Germanic in tone as everyone knew, and few thought 
it unfitting, but many whispered that under the roof 
of the Duke's palace things went on of which no loyal 
Belgian would approve, and it is more than certain 
that when the full history of the present war, of the 
intrigues which led up to it, and the incidents which 
marked its opening come to be written, it will be 
found that these happenings in the palace of the 
Arenbergs were extraordinary. 

132 



CHAPTER XIII 

The King and the Politicians 

When King Albert ascended the throne, the members 
of the Cabinet, as in duty bound, tendered their 
resignation to him, and he, as bound by courtesy, 
begged them to retain their portfohos. In these 
acts there was no poHtical significance. No one 
could tell from them, or with certainty from any- 
thing that had gone before, what the King's poHtics 
were. The Belgian writer, M. Dumont-Wilden, 
in a recently-published article, has recalled the 
fact that " following the simplest formulae which 
crowds love, it was sometimes said in Belgium that 
Prince Albert would be a SociaHst King," which 
really meant that, following the tradition of some of 
his family, he recognised the development of demo- 
cracy as a necessary fact in the evolution of modern 
peoples, and dreamt of conciliating it with the 
monarchy, element of continuity and social stability. 
This saying, which all parties accepted as an indica- 
tion that the new King was seriously inclined to 
work for the people's welfare, added something to 

133 



The King of the Belgians 

his popularity, but threw no real liglit on Ms practical 
politics, for none were so wanting in intelligence as 
to imagine that he would call iXf power SociaUsts, 
sworn enemies of the Crown, of Church and 
of State. 

On the King's accession, the Cathohc party, now 
still in office, had already been in power for an un- 
interrupted period of twenty-five years. Again and 
again it had successfully resisted the attacks of the 
strong Liberal and Socialist parties united against it. 
Except in exceptional circumstances, general elections 
are not held. Members of the Chamber are elected 
for four years, their periods of office being so arranged 
that elections for each half of the Chamber, in turn, 
are held every two years. Elections were imminent 
when King Albert succeeded. The opening of the 
Universal Exhibition of Brussels was also at hand. 
The power of the CathoHcs was weakening. They 
were supposed to have lost much by the death of 
King Leopold, but it was Httle likely the Belgian 
electors, a cautious people, would turn the existing 
Government, against which no serious grievance, 
except that of longevity, could be raised, out of 
office at the time of the exhibition. All were incUned 
to allow each other breathing time, but angry passions 
were in the air, and before many years were out the 
King had to assert himself to preserve the interior 
peace of the nation. 

The first unpleasantness the King was called 

134 



The King and Politicians 

upon to face was Socialist insult. The Socialists 
had carried out a well organised, venomously 
executed, and quite unsuccessful attack on the 
Cathohc Government at the elections of 1910. This 
was only a repetition of what had passed at every 
previous election since the Socialist party was formed, 
but their fresh failure increased the SociaHst venom. 
The exhibition over, they determined to force the 
Chamber to yield to their demand for electoral 
reform on the basis of one man one vote, by pursuing 
a com'se of riot and disorder which, while avoid- 
ing bloodshed, would create so great an uneasiness, 
the Government would be compelled to surrender. 
They opened the campaign by a mock riot at the 
opening of the ParUamentary session of 1911. 

At one side of the lovely park of Brussels there 
stands the noble palace of the Belgian Kings. Facing 
it at the opposite side of the park is the ParHament 
House, the Palais de la Nation. A broad avenue 
runs through the park from palace to palace, its 
straight Hne being broken only by two ponds, one 
of which is famous from the fact that Peter the Great 
terminated a famous supper in the park by jumping, 
clothes and all, into it. King Leopold II. used some- 
times to walk through the park to open ParHament, 
escorted by the dignitaries of his house, but that was 
since mounting on horseback was avoided by the 
ageing monarch. King Albert follows the more 
conmion and splendid custom of riding through the 

135 



The King of the Belgians 

streets from palace to Parliament, with his stafi on 
horseback, the Queen and ladies of her Court driving 
in State carriages. 

The Socialists who lined the way made the Queen's 
procession at the opening of the Parhament in 1911, 
a sort of burlesque of that last gruesome journey 
of the French royalties from Versailles to Paris. 
Instead of loaves of bread on pikes there were scraps 
of paper on staves bearing inscriptions demanding 
universal sufcage, instead of gory heads there was 
everywhere the blood-red eglantine, the Socialist's 
badge ; men and women shrieked and danced and 
waved their mock weapons in the air as the Queen's 
cortege passed by. They showered their scraps 
of paper at the Queen's carriage, but the Queen never 
flinched. Showers of the scraps of paper fell upon 
her lap, but she would not permit the windows of 
her carriage to be raised, and the Httle Princes who 
sat with her amused themselves collecting the papers. 
The mock riot grew worse when the King appeared ; 
the showers of paper flung at his charger made the 
brave steed prance and rear, so that the King had 
to exert all his skilful horsemanship to keep his 
seati 

In the Chamber itself, as ever when the King is 
present, all was magnificent. The floor of the House 
was crowded by senators and deputies ; the dignitaries 
of the Court attended the Queen, the King's mother, 
and the Royal Princes. The galleries were full of 

136 



The King and Politicians 

men, in uniform or full dress, and well-gowned ladies. 
The Socialist deputies created an immense uproar, 
but they were unable to spoil the decorum of the 
scene, or mar the majesty of the King's presence 
and address. Their action served royalty more than 
it served themselves. When their shrieking was at 
its height a man of the people in the pubHc gallery 
cried out in Flemish, " Long live the Queen ! " 
Frothing with rage, the Sociahsts hissed and roared, 
but their cries were drowned in the storm of cheers 
and vivats the loyal cry evoked. Their yeUing at 
the King called forth fresh outbursts of loyal expres- 
sions and left the King immoved. In the midst of 
the uproar, Emile Vandervelde, the Socialist leader, 
was seen to shake his clenched fist in the King's face 
and yell something most observers thought a menace. 
It was no menace at royalty. It was, " We have 
nothing against the King ; it is the Government we 
attack." The words were significant. Vandervelde 
is to-day a Belgian Minister of State. 

The Sociahsts ceased their clamour after a time, 
and the King read his speech swiftly, in a clear deter- 
mined voice, and swiftly passed out. He wore the 
traditional uniform of the Belgian Kings — a general's 
full dress such as King Leopold I., founder of the 
dynasty, wore, but those who draw indications of 
poHcy from gestures, noticed he did not place his 
cocked hat on his head as his predecessors had done 
when addressing Parhament, and as he himself had 

137 



The King of the Belgians 

done at first. This they declared was a deliberate 
action, meant to indicate that the Court was demo- 
cratic. 

The Belgian Court is neither democratic or anti- 
democratic. Assuredly it bowed in no way before 
Demos that day. Throughout the proceedings the 
Queen sat gravely observing everything, hstening 
to the smiling whispers of the Countess of 
Flanders, replying briefly to the questions of her 
sons. 

" Mother," said the younger of the Princes, looking 
at a vociferating SociaHst, *' that gentleman is crying 
out very loudly. He seems very angry ! " 

" Yes," said the Queen, " he is calhng out very 
loudly, and is very angry, because he is not given 
something he wishes for. You cry out sometimes, 
too, when you are not given something you wish for 
that is not good for you." 

"But," said the Prince, "when I get angry and 
cry out for anything I am never given it, but I am 
punished." 

" Yes," said the Queen in a quiet tone her son 
knew, and the little Prince continued to gaze at the 
yelling SociaHst, and draw his own conclusions from 
the scene. 

This mock riot was a prelude of what was to 
come. 

Another parliamentary battle took place in 1912. 
This time the Socialists and Liberals were united 

138 



The King and Politicians 

more closely than ever against the Catholic Govern- 
ment. Again they were defeated. After the elec- 
tions the alliance between the Liberals and Sociahsts 
was broken. The Sociahsts dropped for a moment 
the attack on rehgious education, which was the only 
subject on which they and the Liberals could 
completely unite, and raised instead that of universal 
suffrage. The most violent amongst them went 
farther and cried, " Down with the Crown ; Vive la 
Repubhque." On June 3rd, 1912, the day after 
the elections, when the renewed defeat of the oppo- 
nents of the Catholic party was known, a serious riot 
took place at Liege, where the mob, issuing forth 
from the SociaHst headquarters, raised the cry of the 
Repubhc, sacked Catholic clubs and newspaper 
offices, tore down and burned the national flag, and 
fired from the Sociahst cafe on the gendarmes, who 
fired on them in return, kilKng some people within 
the cafe. This riot was followed by a demonstra- 
tion at Seraing, where 20,000 Sociahsts marched 
through the streets, singing the Internationale and 
repeating the cry of " Vive la Repubhque." For a 
moment it seemed as if a rising was imminent. The 
excitement spread beyond the frontier. Thousands 
of Belgian Sociahsts crossed the frontier, from 
Quiverain into France, and invited the miners at 
Blanc-Misseron to join with them in a general strike. 
The French miners promised to do so, and an im- 
mediate, unorganised strike was avoided only by the 

139 



The King of the Belgians 

urgent entreaties of tlie Socialist leaders, Vandervelde 
and de Broukere, who rushed around the country in 
Monsieur Vandervelde's motor-car, imploring their 
followers not to act precipitately, but to wait the 
meeting of a congress of the party where their future 
action could be decided upon and arrangements made 
for its organisation. 

The promised Congress was held in the end of 
June. The chief leaders of the Sociahst party, some 
of them men of wealth and education, all of them men 
of means, were opposed to a general strike, but their 
councils of moderation were overborne by the cries 
of the mass, led by Monsieur Anslee, Deputy for 
Ghent, and urged on by the secret hinting of the 
anarchists amongst them, whose leader, Emile 
Chapeher, is one of the most intelligent, if fanatic, 
of the men of the people in Belgium. 

The strike, once decided upon, was well organised. 
This time it was the Sociahsts against the world. 
The rich Liberals, fearing for their money-bags, 
and the Liberals of the poorer classes, traders and 
small shopkeepers, fearing bankruptcy and starva- 
tion from the cessation of commerce, sided with 
the CathoHcs in determination to resist them. The 
Sociahsts cared nothing for this. They boasted they 
had 125,000 men enrolled as members of their trade 
unions, and three times as many more prepared to 
strike with the comrades. Their funds were large. 
Their war chests were filled by subscriptions swept 

140 



The King and Politicians 

in from home and abroad — from Socialist com- 
rades, from political adventurers, in one instance 
from a millionaire Liberal adversary of the Govern- 
ment. On the eve of the strike, one of the organisers 
stated that the SociaHst party had in cash £50,000 
— more than enough to sustain a strike for close on 
a year, far more than was necessary, for it was calcu- 
lated that five weeks' strike would bring employers 
to the verge of ruin, and the Government to its 
knees. 

" Those who are going to strike," said this party 
leader, " are not paupers ; they have savings, and 
are ready to use them for the cause." 

The great strike took place in April. It never 
became a general one, but it caused a dislocation of 
trade and a great loss of money to workers and 
employers alike. It was unattended by bloodshed. 
The leaders of the SociaHst party claimed and were 
given by many credit for this, but the real credit 
for it was due to the Prime Minister, Baron de 
Broqueville, whose determined attitude and skilfully 
arranged display of armed force at all places where 
disturbances were Hkely, overawed the ill-intention. 

In their calculation which led them to decide on 
striking, the Socialists made two mistakes. They 
forgot to take into account the fact that if their 
unions were well organised, the trade unions and 
like societies of the CathoHcs were as well organised 
and as powerful ; and they thought the King was 

Ul 



The King of the Belgians 

weak, and would force Lis Govermnent to yield to 
them. 

This last mistake was tlie principal cause of their 
check. During the strike, the wildest rumours 
flew. It was said the King would force the Govern- 
ment to resign and give place to a coalition govern- 
ment in which Liberals and SociaHsts would be 
included. The name of the go-between of the 
King and the various leaders was in every man's 
mouth, as were the names of the future Premier and 
his chief colleague, both of them prominent members 
of the existing Government. 

With an audacity born of behef that the Ejng would 
yield, the SociaHst and Liberal newspapers cried out 
for the intervention of the Crown. The strike- 
leaders' mistake sprang from their knowledge of the 
King's desire for the people's weKare, and of his 
approval of all actions for the people's good by whom- 
soever taken — CathoHc, Liberal or Socialist. 

They had yet to learn that King Albert was strong, 
not weak, and that if his ardour for the people's good 
was not more sincere than theirs, his knowledge and 
foresight was infinitely greater, and his judgment 
unwarped by party prejudice. 

The King upheld his ministry in their wise resolu- 
tion not to yield to clamour. His councils decided 
the issue. The slight concession of the appointment 
of a parhamentary commission to inquire into the 
question of electoral reform was given to the SociaHsts, 

142 



The King and Politicians 

and the strikers, after many weeks of idleness, went 
back to work more poor and more wise. 

This victory strengthened the power of the Catholic 
party in and out of Parhament, and paved the way 
for the successful passage of the Army Reform Act, 
which in its turn enabled Belgium to make the 
gallant stand against her foes she is now making. 

Thus by his firmness and wise councils in the years 
before the war, as well as by his bravery and general- 
ship in the field since its commencement. King 
Albert is the one to whom, in this world's crisis, 
Belgium and all civihsation owes the most. 

Had King Albert not stood firm, and encouraged 
his ministry to stand firm, when the strike menaced 
Belgian industry with ruin, the Government would 
have been forced to yield, a party would have come 
into power which would not, or dare not, pass the 
Army Bill, and the outbreak of war would have 
found Belgium unprepared. 

King Albert did not yield to the Socialist strikers. 
He had already shown that, where he thought 
acquiescence wrong, he could refuse his consent to 
the proposals of the Catholic Government, and, 
when he deemed it necessary, dictate to it. Monsieur 
SchoUaert, then Prime Minister, had introduced 
an Education Bill into the Chamber on March Mth, 
1911, which made education nominally compulsory, 
while proposing no other penalty for those who did 
not send their children to school than that of holding 

143 



The King of the Belgians 

them up to public obloquy. This Bill provided 
that parents should be given tickets, on which the 
masters of whatever school they sent their children 
to could obtain payment for the children's instruction, 
the parents being left the free choice of the schools 
to which their children went. The Liberals and 
Sociahsts opposed this Bill on the ground that 
clerical influence would obhge the parents to select 
private or semi-private clerical schools instead of 
State schools for their children. The Bill was blocked 
in ParHament, and a deadlock seemed hkely, when 
the King — having consulted with the President of 
the Chamber and leaders of the CathoHc party out- 
side of the Cabinet, M. Beernaert, ex-Prime Minister, 
and M. Woest, both Ministers of State, or Privy 
Councillors, whose advice the Crown was entitled to 
seek — sent for M. Schollaert, and told him that in his 
opinion the Bill should be dropped. M. Schollaert, 
after a moment's hesitation, obeyed the royal injunc- 
tion. He withdrew his Bill and resigned office, being 
succeeded by the Baron de Broqueville. 

This determined action of the King caused at the 
time secret murmuring amongst the CathoHcs. It 
is admitted now by all it was a most happy act. 
M. Schollaert is an able statesman ; his Bill had not 
the defects his opponents alleged it had — another Bill 
on lines not dissimilar to it was introduced and 
successfully carried by the new Ministry ; but the 
Baron de Broqueville, future reorganiser of the army 

144 



The King and Politicians 

and Minister for War, was the man Belgium needed as 
Prime Minister. 

By his action with regard to the Education Bill 
and the general strike, King Albert's attitude towards 
Catholics and Socialists was clearly defined. No 
occasion arose for the King to help publicly or pubhcly 
restrain the Liberals. The Liberal party is a great 
party in the Belgian State. It has many and some 
glorious traditions to uphold. Charles Rogier, one of 
the founders of the Liberal party in Belgium, was 
also one of the founders of Belgian independence, and 
one of the greatest of Belgian statesmen. There have 
always been men of great learning and large intellect 
amongst the Liberals who did honour to their country, 
though, it is to be regretted, such men were not 
always amongst the Parhamentary representatives of 
the party. A moment came when the Liberal party 
in the Chamber represented Httle more than the 
selfish interests of the monied class, and, having 
ceased to advance, lost its hold on the country. 
The elections of 1894, when the Sociahsts gained 
their first entry into the Chamber, left them with 
only eighteen seats. For some years it seemed as if 
the Liberal party was crushed for ever, but extrava- 
gances of the Sociahsts in their earher years brought 
back to Liberalism many who had quitted it. At 
present, among the leaders of the Liberal party, there 
are some men of great abihties, and some of vast 
wealth. King Albert took every opportunity which 

145 



The King of the Belgians 

o5ered itself of showing tiiat he recognised the 
services performed to the State by the Liberals, and 
their right to have their views considered, although 
the chances of party warfare excluded them from 
office ; and the moment war seemed inevitable the 
leaders of the Liberals in the Senate and the Chamber 
were summoned to the King's Council as Ministers of 
State. 



146 



CHAPTER XIV 

The King and Germany 

At the very moment of the birth of King Albert, 
Belgium's tranquillity was disturbed by Prussian in- 
terference ; following the announcement of the 
Prince's birth, there is found in the Independance 
Beige of the 10th of April, 1875, a statement regard- 
ing the exchange of Notes between the German and 
Belgian Governments. Germany was then com- 
plaining that Belgium did not sufficiently maintain 
her neutrahty ; the German Foreign Office read 
Belgium the following lecture : 

" A State which enjoys the pri\ilege of neutrality 
seems bound in strong measure by that fact. It 
has to be watchful that its territory does not 
become the theatre of enterprise directed against 
the peace of neighbouring States, or against the 
security of their natives. The most powerful 
Empires have regulated their legislature on that 
basis, and have completed it when necessity made 
itself felt." 

147 



The King of the Belgians 

To tliis lecture from Germany, Belgium replied : 

" Belgium, independent and neutral, has never 
lost sight of her international obHgations, and she 
will continue to fulfil them to their fullest extent. 
To acquit herself of this task she finds the most 
secure support in her institutions which issued 
from the entrails of her past and, appropriate to 
the character of the country, have sustained 
during half a century the trial of events, and have 
become the indispensable conditions of her exist- 
ence." 

Commenting on this, the Paris correspondent of 
The Times of that day wrote : 

" It is a curious fact, which it is well to note 
and comment on, that the German Government 
recalls Belgium to her duties as a neutral Stat€, 
and that M. d'Aspremont-Lynden (Belgian Foreign 
Minister) repUes energetically that Belgium is not 
only neutral but is, moreover, independent. This 
language is at once correct and proud." 

This incident, happening at the very moment of 
the birth of King Albert, is typical of the relations 
which have existed throughout His Majesty's life 
between the Belgian Court and Government and 
that of Germany. Outsiders, even in Belgium, 
thought that ' Germany's desire to profit by com- 
mercial relations with Belgium was leading the 

U8 



The King and Germany 

Government of the Empire to the continual main- 
tenance of friendly relations between the two coun- 
tries. No one could have been bHnd in Belgium to 
the steady advance of German interests there, but 
many thought that that advance boded no harm to 
the peace or independence of the State. The Court 
and its advisers thought differently. Every advance 
that Germany made was regarded with suspicion. 
Such as were accepted were accepted with feelings of 
misgiving. Throughout the greater part of the reign 
of King Leopold, Belgium relied on Enghsh or French 
support in every moment of danger, and in that long 
reign there were many moments of danger. At the 
end of his reign King Leopold was supposed to be 
ready to accept German support against England, 
but whatever the King's thoughts may have been, 
the attitude of the Cabinet did not alter, and in 
preparing himself for his part as King it was to the 
constitutional advisers of the Crown that Prince 
Albert chiefly looked for guidance and instruction. 

In going to Bavaria to seek a wife he went to the 
Court of a Cathohc country which is supposed to be 
subject, not wilhngly, to the Emperor's whims. 
Those who instructed Prince Albert in political 
science and diplomacy were men Httle likely to be 
duped by German wiles. The Prince struck out 
boldly against German encroachments when, in his 
speeches in the Senate, he called on the Belgian Par- 
b'ament to stimulate the ardour of the commercial 

U9 



The King of the Belgians 

world of Belgium, and to lead it to create a 
mercantile marine wMch, joined to tlie splendid 
railway system of the country, would make Belgium 
independent, at least in times of peace, of the aid 
of any outside State. 

It has always been a source of wonder that Belgian 
shipowners have not developed their trade. So small 
is Belgian shipping that it may be said even now 
to be almost non-existent, and yet the Belgians do 
not fear the sea, and their eagerness to seek fortune 
and fame in Africa, in Asia, and in all parts of Europe, 
proves they are ready to leave their homes, but all 
the efiorts of Leopold I. and Leopold II., as well as 
of those of the present ruler as Prince and King, have 
proved unavailing. The explanation seems to he in 
the fact that the Belgians are good workmen, excellent 
manufacturers, but bad shopkeepers. They seem to 
have thought, up to the present, that it is enough to 
have good wares to sell, and that it is not necessary 
to carry them afield, or to cry them in the market 
place. Belgium has not, up to the present, advertised 
her goods as she might, either by her flag on the high 
seas or by her announcements in the newspapers. 
King Leopold failed to prevail on the country to 
create a mercantile marine. His failure was said to be 
due to the fact that it was beheved everywhere his 
real intention was to create a navy under cover of 
a mercantile marine. England and France are said 
to have united to prevent him from carrying out 

150 



The King and Germany 

this design of wluch the Belgian commercial world 
fought shy. Prince Albert when he advocated the 
creation of a mercantile marine was not opposed on 
any such grounds. The opposition which caused his 
plans to fail was covert, and came from Germany. 
The German Government, in fact, through those who 
served it as traders, had already laid strong hands 
upon Antwerp and Brussels when the Prince first 
raised his voice. They came in the guise of friends — 
merchants, bankers, and shipowners. They could 
not prevent themselves from boasting openly that 
Antwerp was already theirs, and that Brussels soon 
would be theirs, gained by peaceful means. The in- 
habitants of Antwerp have never been free from the 
accusation of German sympathies — ^rather, perhaps, 
it might be said, of sympathies not wholly Belgian. 
Germany played on the monetary interests of the 
commercial community to such an extent that it 
could not be prevailed upon to realise that free inter- 
course with every land by means of Belgian-owned 
ships was desirable, or that danger lay in allowing 
the banking and shipping interests of their city to 
be concentrated in German hands. The rivalry of 
Amsterdam and Ptotterdam was waved before their 
eyes to blind them to the more dangerous rivalry of 
Hamburg, and whenever a chance of anti-German 
sentiment seemed Ukely to cause disaster to German 
designs through Antwerp on Belgium, the bogey 
of British jealousy, the danger threatening from 

151 



The King of the Belgians 

Liverpool and London, was raised bv the Germans 
and Belgian pro-Germans. Tiie Government was not 
hoodwinked, neither was the King. When Grermany'a 
professions of friendship for the country, of a5ection 
for the Roval familv was greatest, the Belgian 
Grovemment and King realised the danger from 
Germany was mast imminent. It was King Albert 
who was first fully undeceived as to Germany's 
intentions, and it was the German Emperor himself 
who undeceived him. 

In a famous interview early ia November, 1913, 
between the King of the Belgians and the Grerman 
Emperor, at which General von Moltke, Chief of the 
German Sta5, was present, reported at length by 
M. Cambon, French Ambassador in Berlin, to his 
Government, the German Emperor exposed his policy 
to King Albert, showing himself no champion of 
peace. 

Monsieur J. Cambon's dispatch to M. Stephen 
Pichon, Minister for Foreign Afairs, dated November 
22nd, 1913, ran : 

" I have received irom an absolutely sure source 
a record of a conversation which is reported be- 
tween the Emperor and the King of the Belgians, 
in the presence of the Chief of the General Stafi, 
General von Moltke, a fortnight ago — a conversation 
which would greatly appear to have struck King 
Albert. I am in no way surprised by the impres- 
sion created, which corresponds with that made 

152 



The King and Germany 

on me some time ago. Hostility against us is 
becoming more marked, and the Emperor has 
ceased to be a partisan of peace. The German 
Emperor's interlocutor thought up to the present, 
as did everybody, that Wilham the Second, whose 
personal influence has been exerted in many 
critical circumstances in favour of the maintenance 
of peace, was still in the same state of mind. This 
time, it appears, he found him completely changed. 
The German Emperor is no longer, in his eyes, the 
champion of peace, against the beUicose tendencies 
of certain German parties. Wilham II. has been 
brought to think that war with France is inevitable, 
and that it will have to come to it one day or the 
other. The Emperor, it need hardly be said, be- 
lieves in the crushing superiority of the German 
army, and in its assured success. 

" General von Moltke spoke in exactly the same 
sense as his Sovereign. He also declared that war 
was necessary and inevitable, but he showed him- 
self still more certain of success. * For,' said he 
to the King, * this time we must put an end to it ' 
(cette fois il faut en finir\ ' and your Majesty can 
hardly doubt the irresistible enthusiasm which on 
that day will carry away the whole German 
people.' 

" The King of the Belgians protested that to 
interpret the intentions of the French Government 
in this manner was to travesty them, and to allow 

153 



The King of the Belgians 

oneself to be misled as to tlie feeling of tlie French 
nation by tbe manifestations of a few hotheads, 
or of conscienceless intriguers. 

"The Emperor and his Chief of General StafE 
none the less persisted in their point of view. 

"During this conversation the Emperor, more- 
over, appeared overwrought and irritable. As the 
years begin to weigh upon Wilham II. the family 
traditions, the retrograde feehngs of the Court, 
and, above all, the impatience of soldiers, are 
gaining more ascendancy over his mind. Perhaps 
he may feel I know not what kind of jealousy of 
the popularity acquired by his son, who flatters 
the passions of the Pan-Germans, and, perhaps, he 
may find that the position of the Empire in the 
world is not commensurate with its power. Perhaps, 
also, the reply of France to the last increase in the 
German Army, the object of which was to place 
Germanic superiority beyond question, may count 
for something in these bitternesses, for, whatever 
one may say, it is felt here, that the Germans can- 
not do much more. One may ask what lay behind 
the conversation. The Emperor and his Chief of 
General Staff may have intended to impress the 
King of the Belgians, and lead him not to resist 
in case a conflict with us should arise. Perhaps, 
also, there may be a desire to have Belgium less 
hostile towards certain ambitions displayed here 
with regard to the Belgian Congo. But this latter 

154 



The King and Germany 

hypothesis does not seem to me compatible with 
the intervention of General von Moltke. 

" Further, the Emperor WiUiam is less master of 
his impatience than is generally beheved. More 
than once I have seen him allow his innermost 
thoughts to escape. Whatever may have been the 
object of his conversation, which has been reported 
to me, the confidence has none the less the gravest 
character. It corresponds with the precariousness 
of the general situation, and with the state of a 
certain portion of opinion in France and Germany. 
If I were allowed to draw conclusions I would say 
that it would be wise to take into account the 
new fact that the Emperor is growing famihar 
with an order of ideas which formerly was repugnant 
to him, and that, to borrow from him a phrase 
he Hkes to use : ' We should keep our powder 
dry.' " 

The German Emperor went farther in his insistence 
with Kjng Albert than the wording of the diplomatist's 
dispatch shows. The conversation reported by M. 
Cambon was not the first or most important that 
took place between the German Emperor and the 
Belgian King regarding Belgian neutrality and the 
position of Belgium in the inevitable war. 

Immense pressure was brought to bear upon King 
Albert to have him throw in his weight on the side 
of Germany. The pressure of personal friendship, 
of family relationship, of what was represented as 

155 



The King of the Belgians 

being tlie interest of Belgium. He witlistood it all. 
Wlien friendly pressure failed tlireats were attempted, 
none the less serious because they were covert ; he 
treated them with disdain. 

Firm as King Albert's attitude was, the German 
Emperor did not lose hope of winning him to hia 
side, or coercing him to remain neutral. Even after 
the war had begun, Belgian towns laid low, Belgian 
peasants slain, the Belgian army forced back on 
Antwerp, and Brussels occupied by the Germans, a 
Belgian Minister of State was prevailed on by the 
German Governor of Brussels, Field-Marshal von der 
Goltz, to carry fresh German proposals to his Sovereign 
at Antwerp. This gentleman went, he declares un- 
willingly on what he knew to be a bootless errand. 
His reception was of the coldest. King Albert's 
answer to the German proposal was a curt and con- 
temptuous refusal. 

These proposals consisted of an offer on the part 
of the Germans to leave Antwerp unmolested if the 
Belgian army remained there within its defences 
without troubhng the Germans, seeking to interfere 
with their occupation of the country, or impeding 
them on their Kne of march towards France. 



156 



CHAPTER XV 

Storm-Clouds over Belgium 

The neutrality of Belgium was a device of the Powers 
assembled at the Congress of London, hit on for 
their own security, without much thought of Belgium's 
welfare, and Kttle consideration for the Belgians' 
preferences. It was Talleyrand who proposed it ; 
the other Powers accepted it at England's suggestion 
mainly in order to prevent the French desire of 
obtaining possession of Belgium for which Talleyrand 
was secretly working, from being ever accomphshed. 
King Leopold I. reminded Queen Victoria long 
afterwards in a letter. " This neutrahty," he wrote 
on February 15th, 1856, " was in the real interest of 
this country, but our good Congress here did not 
wish it, and even opposed it. It was imfose on them. 
A neutrahty to be respected must be protected." 

Once their country was declared neutral, the 
Belgians were quick to see the advantages neutrahty 
gave them. They welcomed it, and were determined 
to maintain it, as recent events most clearly show. 
If any blame might be attached to them, it would 

157 



The King of the Belgians 

be that of lia\^ng placed too great a confidence on 
the guarantee of the Powers. For long they beheved 
the promise to observe their neutrahty, so freely 
and solemnly made, would be held to unswervingly. 
No one in Belgium dared to think that any of the 
Great Powers would break this engagement, but from 
outside, hints came long ago. Palmerston spoke 
solemn words of warning as to what men might do 
if they went to war. It was with difficulty the 
Belgian Kings and War ^linisters prevailed on the 
country to vote the supphes necessary for the main- 
tenance of the Army and other defences of the country, 
under the clause of the act of neutrality which bound 
Belgium to keep up a sufficient force to repel invasion, 
until the Powers who guaranteed her neutrahty 
came to her assistance. 

To the very last, all the Powers professed them- 
selves determined to fulfil their engagements towards 
Belgiimi, but facts spoke strongly, and gradually 
the eyes of the Belgians were awakened to the danger 
which surrounded them. Not only did Grermany on 
the one hand and France on the other mass great 
armies on the frontier, but each of these Powers made 
other mihtary preparations which made it evident 
that when hostilities broke out they expected Belgium 
would once again become the theatre of war she had 
so often been in centuries gone by. France cannot 
be blamed for fortifying her threatened frontier, but 
the strong fortifications she drew up on the sides of 

158 



Storm-Clouds over Belgium 

the Meuse and the Moselle made it almost certain 
that if Germany declared war on France she would 
iaevitably violate Belgian neutrahty by seeking to 
enter France through Belgium. 

Long before war was declared, the French mihtary 
authorities, summing up the situation, set forth the 
reasons which would tempt Germany to descend on 
Belgium in spite of any promise she might have 
given to that country. The first of these was the 
weakness of the Belgian defences, as compared with 
the strength of those in France. It would be to 
Germany's greatest interest, they said, to advance 
by a way in which she would not be blocked by the 
forts guarding the French frontier between Belfort 
and Sedan. 

In 1892 Claude Messin said : " There is a German 
interest superior to German neutrahty before which 
that neutrahty must yield." 

" Belgium traversed," said the French strategists, 
" the Germans will reach our frontier at a point 
where its defences are most feeble, both naturally 
and artificially. We have firmly closed the front 
door, but we have left open the side doors, and it ia 
by them the enemy will enter." 

The next reason the French strategists gave was 
that Germany, by taking possession of Belgium, 
could prevent the English Expeditionary Forces from 
landing in a Belgian port. 

Next came the question of a geogxaphical objective. 

159 



The King of the Belgians 

" It is no longer," they said, " a city or a water-line, 
or any particular spot of land that an army will seek, 
but the enemy whom they must search for, combat 
and crush." 

Again, the superiority in numbers would tempt 
the Germans to rush forward with their great forces 
immediately on war being declared. For the advance 
of an army such as Germany would be sure to put 
into the field, wide plains were necessary. Such 
fields were not to be found in crowded Lorraine. 

These strategists foresaw that the German advance 
would be made by the pass between the Sambre and 
the Meuse — no narrow gorge, but a wide expanse of 
30 miles. The great extension of the German rail- 
way lines, built evidently for military purposes and 
converging towards the Belgian frontier, was an 
indication sufficient for them. 

As long ago as 1884 the camp at Elsenborn had 
grown to be a menace to Belgium. Malmedy, a 
little town of German Limbourg, some kilometres 
from the Belgian frontier, with a population of 4,000 
souls, suddenly developed into a vast armed camp 
of 60,000 soldiers clearly massed so as to be ready 
for a descent on Belgium, 

Belgium was for years overrun by German spies — 
in Brussels, Antwerp, La Panne, and on the Dutch 
frontier at Terneuze, as well as in the Walloon country 
at Liege, Charleroi and Chimay. There was at 
Brussels a Chief of the German Secret Service, who 

160 



Storm-Clouds over Belgium 

was accomplished in sending flying agents to execute 
missions in France, by automobile and in otber ways, 
and in recruiting spies. The recruitment of spies 
was carried on by means of advertisements in news- 
papers, offering easy work under certain conditions. 
Moreover, every German who entered Belgium was 
a spy. No Enghshman or Frenchman who voyaged 
on pleasure would think of acting as a spy or of gain- 
ing profit by what he saw by chance. The Germans, 
on the other hand, show their mentahty when they 
refuse to beheve that any child of Alsace-Lorraine 
who asked permission to enter the country, to visit 
old famihar sights or even the graves of his parents, 
did so for an innocent purpose. Being spies them- 
selves, they think all others spies. Every German 
who estabhshed factories in Belgium did so for the 
purpose of advancing the mihtary outposts of the 
country. Belgium was filled with skilled Germans 
who worked at lesser wages than their abihties could 
command, and made themselves the best of friends 
with all the Belgians, amongst whom they mixed, 
simply so that when the time came they could furnish 
the fullest information to the army chiefs. The 
very governesses, even the nursemaids, who were 
employed in Belgium, it has since been discovered, 
acted as a regular organised corps of spies. 

It was not only on the chateaux of German dukes 
living in Belgium that wireless telegraphic apparatus 
were placed. The pigeon-flying love of the Belgians 

161 



The King of the Belgians 

was largely utilised, and openly, by entering into 
competition. German carrier-pigeons were taught 
to fly from and to Belgium. 

Much of this came to the ears of King Albert and 
his advisers. 

In 1893 the Staff of the German Army constructed 
near the Baraque Michel, on the highest spot of 
Belgian territory, an observatory for the purpose of 
practising triangulation, and this, although per- 
mitted, was well known to the Belgian authorities. 
In Hke manner a German mission made a wireless 
telegraphic installation at La Panne. 

Besides spies, the whole country was overrun by 
the agents of the German Military Survey Office 
and others, seeking information which is not found 
on maps. 

In the Ardennes there were found Germans carry- 
ing on lowly occupations — colporteurs, pedlars and 
such-like — which allowed them to see and hear 
everything. These strange dealers sold next to 
nothing and spent money freely. 

In 1912 the valleys of the Sambre and the Meuse 
were filled by batches of German officers who, maps 
in hand, studied the whole of the country. All this 
was carried on so openly that Belgium's neighbour, 
France, though assured by Belgium of her honesty 
and her rigid determination to maintain her neutrality, 
became more than haK convinced that Belgium had 
a secret understanding with Germany, and was 

162 



Storm-Clouds over Belgium 

prepared, in the event of war, to allow her neutrality 
to be violated by Germany with no more than a show 
of opposition, if with as much. Belgium's mihtary 
weakness also alarmed France to such an extent that 
both she and England officially warned the Belgian 
Government of the danger in which it lay. They 
made no demand on Belgium, for Belgium is a free 
country on which coercion ought not to be exercised. 
Yet the information conveyed to the Belgian Cabinet 
was sufficient to compel it to induce the Belgian 
ParHament to authorise instant action. 

After many choppings and changings in mihtary 
matters, the Prime Minister, Baron de Broqueville, 
resolved on making a frank statement of the case 
to the Chambers, and on February 13th, 1913, at 
the opening of the sitting, he invited the House to 
go into secret coromittee and lay the whole matter 
before the House. 

The story the Prime Minister had to tell was alarm- 
ing. The old system under w^hich the Belgian Army 
had been recruited had long since proved a failure. 
It had been changed in 1909, and the country was 
then provided with an army which was able, and 
would have proved sufficient, had not France and 
Germany made such immense advances in their 
effectives. This had been pointed out by Baron de 
Broqueville in his speech to the Chamber on November 
12th, 1912, when he stated that the march of events 
made it incumbent for Belgium to lay new burdens 

163 



The King of the Belgians 

on herself. Belgium's confidence in the guarantees 
of her neutrahty remained, he said, but it was im- 
possible to lose sight of the fact that the grouping 
together of the Powers by alhances or ententes had 
created a situation which, in the case of European 
war, might make the guarantee of neutrahty of httle 
use. It is to be foreseen, in fact, said M. de Broque- 
ville, foretelling what actually happened, that all the 
Powers guaranteeing our neutrality would become 
belligerent. In view of such an eventuahty, he con- 
cluded, Belgium should pass a law putting herself 
into a state of mihtary defence to the greatest possible 
extent in her power — in other words, a law of com- 
pulsory service. 



io4 



CHAPTER XVI 

The King and the Army 

A LADY once asked King Leopold I. : " Have 
you been a soldier ? " " Madame," he replied, 
" I am, and have been for forty years, a Field- 
Marshal" 

This story is true, though it seems a naive question 
for anyone to ask of a king if he had borne arms, for 
every king, whether he wills it or not, is of necessity 
a soldier and a commander of men. The world, 
until this war broke out, may have thought King 
Albert of Belgium was more of a thinker, a student, 
and a philanthropist than a soldier. It may well 
have forgotten that the traditions of his family since 
history first recalls them have been those of warriors, 
and that his earhest and longest studies were made 
in a military school under the directions of great 
generals. 

The war now being waged found neither Belgium 
nor its King unprepared for mihtary defences. " The 
King understood that a rich nation occupying the 
perilous geographical situation of Belgium should 

165 



The Kme of the Beleians 



ba¥e a sizaig annj, that adbool ol cnRgy and dis- 

^ i^BBB. Li spte ol tke lnwtalifinB, and 

:be syafcpmatic c^posilim idddi so many 

~ i:^ L^iiions accnmnlated, lie soceeedgd, tibanks 
:: lit t iztt:: su^csi, in caeatfni: i :ir— : i^! 
5?of 1914 has izl—-r^i 

— andjwt ii^ 5 

jTeonsbr pbced 



iliai 



Ae eami 



"P, 7__ T" 



reh-, by 

-3 kd 



"35 a 



Lave been 
-^ toiMe 



jioaao-' cr oi I-l* laC-Mi i — Tt trovereigiis ooaj- 



iCO 



The King and the Army 

guard accoutred and attired for purposes of parade. 
When William I. of the Netherlands goaded his 
Belgian subjects into resistance he learned that 
Belgian men, whether they wore the uniform of the 
regular soldiery or the blouse of the volunteers, had 
the actual stuff of soldiers in them. They were 
descended from those men whose mihtary ardour 
made Belgium, according to the historian Tilly, the 
best mihtary school in Europe. There was not a 
gentleman who did not boast in that historian's time 
of having first borne arms there ; not a captain who 
was not proud of having been instructed there. 
For centuries the Walloon infantry was famous on 
every battlefield of Europe. The ardent sons of 
Belgium have sought for glory in every field — the 
victories of peace alone never satisfied them. They 
rejoiced in the tranquilHty of their Fatherland, which 
they themselves had won for it in the field of 1830, 
but when peace obtained at home, and the peaceful 
arts flourished there, the Belgian soldiers did not let 
their arms rust in their scabbards, nor did they 
consider it right that all a nation's sons should wield 
no more lethal weapons than pruning hooks. 

A very few years after the creation of the Belgian 
Kingdom and the guarantee of Belgian neutrahty, 
a Belgian detachment went forth to fight in Portugal 
for Dona Maria. In 1864 the Belgian soldiers were 
the last faithfidrfew who raUied round the tottering 
throne in Mexico of the Emperor Maximihan, husband 

167 



The King of the Belgians 

of the Belgian Princess Charlotte. And still more 
recently, in our own days, Belgian soldiers contested 
eagerly with one another for the honour of sustaining 
their Sovereign's cause against the slave-hunting 
Arabs and their savage hordes in the Congo ; and 
when the Boxer troubles arose in China in 1900 
Belgian soldiers rushed eagerly to arms to form an 
expeditionary corps. 

Therefore it was with no misplaced confidence that 
King Albert, seeing the storm-clouds gather, ad- 
dressed himself to the Belgian Cabinet and the chiefs 
of the Belgian army, and called on them to aid him 
in placing the Belgian army on a basis which would 
enable his country to defend herself against any 
violator of pledges and sustain her cause, even 
though those who now violated any pledges were 
somewhat tardy in fulfiUing their promises. 

There were timid men high in the counsels of the 
Belgian nation who held that the country's role 
should be merely a passive one, that the Belgian 
nation would keep its every pledge and the Belgian 
army fulfil its role by remaining absolutely neutral ; 
that Belgium was bound neither by honour nor 
necessity to attempt the impossible, that if an 
overwhelming Power advanced upon her it was her 
right to withdraw her forces to her last strong place 
at Antwerp, and there to keep the nation's flag 
flying until the Powers bound to aid her came to her 
assistance. 

168 



The King and the Army 

These weak counsels might have prevailed had 
King Albert been less strong and less determined to 
fulfil his duty than he was. During the long years 
of peace in the reign of King Leopold II., the Belgian 
Government, not by the people's will, had allowed 
the army to dwindle in numbers until its strength 
was not sufficient to enable it to defend all its forts, 
much less to take the field against an enemy. As 
has been told,* the army, though nominally one of 
volunteers, was in reahty one of paid substitutes, 
and there was a party not without influence in the 
State who did all in its power to discourage others 
than those who served for monetary gain from 
entering the army. It is fortunate that the warHke 
spirit still predominated in Belgium. 

When the European situation became alarming the 
young men ralHed to the King, and it was made un- 
mistakably clear, even to the most peace-loving in the 
ParHament, that the nation would be satisfied with 
nothing but compulsory military service. 

The way for the remodelHng of the army had 
been cleared by the Army Bill of 1909, to which 
King Leopold II. gave his royal assent on his death- 
bed. That Bill substituted personal service for the 
service of substitutes, requiring each family to provide 
one son for army service. Under it the peace strength 
was left at the old figure of 42,800, but the cadres 

* See Chapter IV., p. 57. 
169 



The King of the Belgians 

of tlie army were changed, and a sctieme evolved 
by wMcli it was hoped that the war strength of the 
army would reach 210,000 men. 

The alarms and excursions of 1911 and 1912 
strengthened the hands of King Albert and his 
supporters, who sought for the immediate increase 
of the army. The BiU which was introduced in 
January, 1913, provided for general compulsory 
service, which, although many exemptions were 
provided for, would give a war strength of 340,000 
men, composed of twelve classes. In introducing it, 
the Prime ^Minister, who is also Minister for War, 
informed the Chamber that it was calculated that 
normally, in a population of 7,000,000 inhabitants, 
there would be about 70,000 young men ehgible for 
soldiers. Of this number, according to his plan, 
forty-nine per cent., or Kttle less than half, were to 
be taken into the service, i.e., 33,000 men, to whom 
might be added 2,000 volunteers, or 35,000 men- 
double of what was then the actual contingent of the 
army. This, on the basis of twelve classes being 
under the colours, would give an army of 340,000 
men— 150,000 for a field army, 130,000 for fortresses, 
and 60,000 for reserve. The Bill did not become law 
soon enough to permit of more than two of the new 
classes beiag called up on the outbreak of war, so 
the actual army reserves of Belgium at the moment 
that war broke out amounted to no more than 260,CiCO 
men. 

170 



The King and the Army 

The forts of Antwerp, Namur and Liege required 
no less than 130,000 men to defend them. If the 
soldiers in the active army were used for the defence 
of these strong places, only 133,000 could have been 
put into the field, but the army commanders resolved 
to put into the field every trained soldier of the 
regular army, and leave the defence of the strong 
places to the Garde Civique, the citizen soldiery, who 
had some training and were eager to serve. 

Another duty which it was decided to assign to 
the Garde Civique was that of guarding the bridges, 
railway Hues, and other important points within the 
country, acting as scouts, and generally keeping the 
roads of communication open for the general army. 

The Garde Civique are citizen soldiers, drilled twelve 
times a year, and called out to hne the streets and 
take a decorative part in the proceedings on festive 
occasions in the great cities. They are drawn from 
the middle and lower classes, professional men and 
shopkeepers for the most part. Theoretically every 
man apt for service who was not in the regular army 
or reserve belonged to this body, but, excepting in 
the town, it existed for the most part only on paper, 
and everywhere those in servile employment were 
excluded from its ranks. It resembled the Enghsh 
Volunteers in many ways. There was truth in the 
saying of one of its members on a memorable occasion 
in the reign of Queen Victoria, when the Volunteer 
movement was in its ardent youth, and the Belgian 

171 



The King of the Belgians 

G-arde Civique came to England to return a visit the 
Yolnnt-e^rs paid to Belgium., At a banquet given in 
their honour the worthy Belgian citizen soldier ex- 
plained amidst immense applause to his English 
hosts that the Belgian Garde Civique was an organi- 
Bation exactly the same as theirs — Volunteers, only 
service in their ranks was compulsory. 

It was a consequence of the Law of 1913 which 
made service in the regular army obhgatory on all 
citizens, that the G-arde Civique was destined to 
disappear, but during the transitory period its 
members were determined they would do their duty 
to the full. Strict discipline replaced previous laxity, 
and aU in the ranks of this branch were keen on 
active service. They welcomed the chance which 
sent them to the front and the fortresses, and per- 
formed well their duty on the lines of co mm unication. 
Knowing something of military disciphne, and filled 
with ardour, the G-arde Civique, which numbered 
close on 100,000 men, was not to be despised, especi- 
ally when its members were distributed amongst the 
regular forces who encouraged and sustained them. 
The Germans did not make the mistake of despising 
them, but sought to drive them from the field by 
declaring they would treat them as irregulars, and 
&s such shoot them wherever they caught them, 
denying them the rights of beUigerents. When 
this was known to the Belgian generals, retiring on 
Antwerp, discouraged by the tardiness in the arrival 

172 



The King and the Army 

of their allies, they disbanded the Garde Civique, to 
the indignation of the men who served in it, and 
who at Brussels, where the city had been left wholly 
in their charge, at Alost, at Ghent, and everywhere 
else throughout the country, were loud in the ex- 
pression of their anger at being deprived by their 
own Government of the arms they had taken up for 
their country's defence. So great was their indigna- 
tion that the Belgian commanders resolved to allow 
them to risk the Germans' vengeance sooner than 
baulk them in their desire to serve their King 
and country, and they were again called to the 
colours, with which they did service as good as the 
best. 

The ardour to serve their King and country in 
the field was not confined to men of any age to join 
the colours. Every boy in Belgium was fired by it. 
There were no more brave or useful corps in the 
Belgian army than those of the Boy Scouts. At 
headquarters, with regiments on the march, and at 
the front under fire, the Boy Scouts did excellent 
work, for which they have received well-merited 
praise and rewards. At Furnes, before the whole 
army, King Albert pinned the Cross of the Order of 
Leopold on the blouse of Joseph Lievin, a Boy 
Scout, created a Chevaher of the highest order in 
Belgium for his brave action under fire at Liege. 

Men have wondered at the bravery and achieve- 
ments of the Uttle Belgian army in the face of what 

173 



The King of the Belgians 

seemed overwhelming odds. The secret of its 
bravery lay, in part, in the great traditions it inherited, 
in still a greater part in its loyalty to its King, -whose 
whole-hearted love for his country and his people 
made every man and boy in Belgium resolute in the 
determination to leave no nerve unstrained, no 
effort unmade to sustain his cause and uphold his 
throne. 



374 



CHAPTER XVII 

The Declaration op War 

In tlie last week of July the Belgian army was 
mobilised. On August 4tli, the Chambers, summoned 
hastily, met in Brussels. The streets of the Belgian 
capital never wore a more animated or a more bright 
appearance than that day. Flags — ^those of Belgium's 
aUies, Enghsh and French, with the American flag, 
and those of a dozen other friendly or neutral coun- 
tries, and, above all, the national tricolour of Belgium 
— red, yellow and black — floated everywhere in the 
sunshine. Motors rushed through the streets at a 
pace that suggested errands of Hfe or death ; boy 
scouts darted everywhere. The absence of the 
regular soldiers was not noticeable, for their place 
was filled by the Garde Civique, in whose uniform 
and deportment the casual observer noticed nothing 
different from that of the regulars. In the crowds 
that filled the streets, all were eager, but none were 
downcast. From the Palace to the ParHament House 
the royal processions passed through dense mobs of 
cheering people. The Queen, the Royal children, 

175 



The King of the Belgians 

above all, tlie King, were acclaimed with cries that rent 
the heavens. There were no longer in Belgium 
Socialists to hoot or anarchists to glower ; with the 
distant rumbling of the German cannons, all Belgians 
had discovered they revered the Queen and were 
proudly loval to the King. 

Within the stately palace of the nation all was 
solemn and impressive, as befitted the place in which 
Parliament was assembled to perform the heroic deed 
of flinging back defiance at a mighty foe, and per- 
forming an action on which the future of the whole 
nation depended. The King, attired as always 
when he addresses Parhament, in the full-dress 
uniform of a Belgian general,* was escorted with 
accustomed state to the throne. Having first seated 
himseK on it, he rose and addressed the representa- 
tives of his people : 

"Xever, since 1830, has a more grave hour 
sounded for Belgium. The strength of our right and 
the need of Europe for our autonomous existence 



* It has been stated in English pubHcations that the King 
wore the uniform in which he was about to take the field, 
and that a great number of the legislators he addressed wore 
campaign uniforms. None of this is true, and as improbable 
as would be a statement that King George, supposing his 
Majesty intended personally to join in the campaign, went 
first in State to the EnglishParhament wearing a khaki uniform. 
The Belgian King, Senators and Deputies were met to per- 
form solemnly a great duty, net to make idle theatrical display. 
The scene which I witnessed was as I describe it, 

176 



The Declaration of War 

make us still hope the dreaded events will not 
occur. If, however, it is necessary for us to resist 
an invasion of our soil, that duty will find us armed 
and ready to make the greatest sacrifices. Our 
young men have abready come forward to defend 
the threatened fatherland. 

" One duty alone is imposed upon us, namely, 
the maintenance of a stubborn resistance, courage, 
and union. Our bravery is proved by our faultless 
mobihsation and by the multitude of voluntary 
engagements. This is the moment for action. 
I have called you together to-day in order to allow 
the Chambers to participate in the enthusiasm 
of the country. You will know how to adopt with 
urgency all necessary measures. Are you decided 
to maintain inviolate the sacred patrimony of our 
ancestors ? 

" No one will fail in his duty, and the Army is 
capable of performing its task. The Government 
and I are fully confident. The Government is 
aware of its responsibihties and will carry them 
out to the end to guard the supreme welfare of the 
country. If a stranger should violate our territory 
he will find all the Belgians gathered round their 
Sovereign, who will never betray his constitutional 
oath. I have faith in our destinies. A country 
which defends itself wins the respect of all, and 
cannot perish. 

" God will be with us." 

177 



The King of the Belgians 

This speech was a noble utterance made most 
royally, an appeal straight from the great heart of 
the bravest man who has drawn his sword in this 
war to the great hearts of the brave people he rules 
over and leads. There was not one in the crowded 
Chamber, on its floor or in its galleries, who was 
unprepared for the announcement it contained. 
Belgium is a tiny country all over which, in the 
course of a summer's day, in time of peace, a man 
could travel from north to south and east to west, to 
its Dutch, German, Luxembourg, and French frontiers, 
and to the sea which bounds it towards England. 
There was no spot in the country so distant as not 
to be threatened by the war preparations of its belH- 
cose neighbour, no hamlet so secluded that its inhabi- 
tants were without knowledge of the movements of 
the great Powers and of the importance to Belgium 
of their negotiations. For years previously every 
newspaper in Belgium had been full of the coming 
war. The question of the miHtary defences of the 
country, their necessity, and their adequacy, had 
been discussed in several heated debates in the 
Chamber. Military authorities and newspaper seers 
aUke had long taught the people that when the 
inevitable happened, and peace between Germany 
and France was ruptured, invasion of Belgium was 
certain. The French and German frontiers were 
so strongly fortified where they touched each other, 
it was clear to the meanest tactician that whichever 

178 



The Declaration of War 

army moved first would seek to advance through 
Belgium. A French invasion was possible, but it 
was a German invasion men expected and feared. 
None, therefore, were surprised to learn that war had 
broken out and that Germany had violated Belgian 
neutrality. 

Although there was no fear, there was some unquiet 
in the assembly which the King addressed. Each 
man was certain of himself; no man as yet was 
absolutely certain of his neighbour. For generations 
Belgium had been rent by party feuds. It was not 
many months since the general strike had led men to 
fear bloodshed and civil war in the land. At the very 
moment ParUament assembled the racial jealousies 
of the two races which make up the Belgian people 
had led to the formation of Walloon and Flemish 
parties whose parhamentary leaders breathed un- 
dying hatred of each other, and demanded autonomy 
for their separate halves of the country as the only 
alternative to separation. How would those of the 
other parties act ? the members of each cHque asked 
each other, not without apprehension. The ringing 
cheers which marked each period of the King's 
appeal, the enthusiastic outburst at its end, answered 
all such questions. In 1914, as in 1830, the union of 
the Belgian people to maintain their nation's hberty 
was proved to themselves and proclaimed to the 
world. Walloons, who a month before had pubhcly 
accused the Flamingants of being treacherous pro- 

179 



The King of the Belgians 

Germans, Flemings who had declared the Walloons 
were ready to fling open their gates to the invader, 
and smooth his passage through their valleys, grasped 
hands on the floor of the Chamber and in the galleries, 
and swore to conquer or die, side by side, in defence 
of their King and country. Xone cheered the King 
more heartily or showed himself more in accord 
with Catholics and millionaire Liberals than the 
Socialist chief, who had declared royalty to be 
nothing but the weathercock on the top of the 
edifice built by rehgion and ca,pital, which Socialism 
had already shaken and would soon level with the 
ground. 

The enthusiasm reached its height when, the King 
having left, the Prime Minister mounted the tribune 
and announced that the leaders of the Liberal party 
in the Senate and Chamber, having been summoned 
to the Privy Council as Ministers of Stat« on the 
previous day, Emile Vandervelde, leader of the 
Socialists, was now, hkewise, summoned to the 
Council with the same title. Clearly all parties and 
all classes were imited. "It is worth invasion, it is 
worth war, to have this union," cried a man in one 
of the galleries, and all who heard him joined their 
cheers to his. 

The statement regarding war made by M. de 
Broqueville was of the gravest. At seven o'clock 
on the evening of Sunday, August 2nd, Grermany had 
presented an ultimatum to Belgium, calling on 

180 



The Declaration of War 

Belgium to allow the German troops to use her 
territories as a basis for an attack on France in 
return for a German pledge to respect her indepen- 
dence, and threatening Belgium with her enmity if 
her demand was rejected. Belgium had repHed she 
would maintain her neutrahty, and Germany, acting 
on her menace, had already invaded the country, 
nothing remains but to arm and fight. 

Unanimously the Chamber approved of every 
proposal the Government made and voted all the 
money it called for. The enthusiasm within the 
Parhament House was mirrored outside. From the 
balcony the Prime Minister harangued an immense 
crowd, tingUng with excitement and eagerness for 
the fray. The doors of the recruiting offices were 
besieged. At every barracks thousands of volunteers 
were enlisted in the army every hour and before long 
the demand was so great it was found necessary to 
ask would-be soldiers to postpone their apphcations, 
every inch of room and shred of equipment the army 
possessed being exhausted by the multitude of first- 
comers. The people hoped that, whatever happened, 
Brussels, being an open city, would be spared from 
German occupation, and by common accord the 
whole city was turned into a vast hospital for the 
wounded. The red cross appeared everjrwhere ; there 
was hardly a shopkeeper who did not place his 
premises at the disposal of the central committee to 
be used as a ward. There was not a private house- 

181 



The King of the Belgians 

holder whose home was not turned into a branch of 
the great nursing association, whose womenkind did 
not pass their time in preparing bandages and making 
clothes for the wounded. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

The King at the Front 

King Albert went speedily to the front with his 
army, which had been mobihsed in nineteen hours. 
Its magnificent defence at Liege, its gallant actions 
at Namur are known to all the world. As yet 
unsupported by any of his alHes, the King was 
obhged to fall back before superior numbers, and 
withdraw his army to Antwerp. The Belgians did not 
cede easily — in their retreat they fought every inch 
of the way. The retreat, notwithstanding the con- 
scious bravery of those who made it, was heart- 
rending. They retired on a tranquil and smiling 
land, rich in the promise of harvest and the products 
of long peace. As they went backwards they 
saw the land behind them made desolate and bare 
by the ravages of war. They saw the harvest 
trampled under foot, houses destroyed, spires 
toppled to the ground, altars overturned. Fearful 
tales of atrocities committed by the Germans on 
defenceless peasants and townsfolk reached their 
ears. Not all of these tales were true ; but ther^ 

183 



The King of the Belgians 

was trutli enough in them to sadden the King's 
heart, to fill him and his army with indignation, 
which nothing but his stern command of himself 
prevented from growing into frenzied rage. 

The last stand before Antwerp was made about 
Lou vain. On August 14th a momentary junction 
was made at Charleroi between the French and 
Belgian armies, but no sufficient number of French 
soldiers or guns had been brought up, and before the 
AlHes could make their position sufficiently strong 
the Germans, advancing in great numbers, cut them 
ofi from the Belgians. King Albert was pbHged to 
retreat on Lou vain in the night of August 17th. 
The next day the University city was full of Belgian 
soldiers. It had aheady been for some days the 
headquarters of the cavalry division. With the 
soldiers there mixed a great multitude of civilians, 
come from all parts to visit or seek for news of rela- 
tives serving with the colours. The air was thick 
with the dust raised by the wheels of motors, which 
passed and re-passed through the town in unending 
streams. The cafes were besieged by thousands of 
customers ; in the restaurants, still famous for their 
good cheer, friendly battles for seats took place 
between men joyously hungry. Although the army 
was retreating, none had lost heart. Not one in the 
doomed city dreamt of the fate which hung over 
it and its inhabitants. 

A desire to avoid drawing the enemy's fire on its 

184 



The King at the Front 

ancient churclies, its magnificent town hall, and its 
venerated University, led the King to decide upon 
the evacuation of Lou vain, and he withdrew his 
troops from the city, and allowed the Germans to 
enter it without opposition. For a hke cause the 
Belgian Government withdrew from Brussels to 
Antwerp on the same day, and the Garde Civique, who 
had dug trenches around the city, and were prepared 
to sell their Hves in defending their capital, were 
called in and disbanded. The King, at the head of 
his army, retired within the fortifications of Antwerp, 
where he rejoined the Queen and their children, who, 
coming from Brussels, had taken up their residence 
at the palace in the Place de Meir. 

King Albert's heart was sore when he found himself 
..^-iorced to withdraw to Antwerp. He was not dis- 
couraged, but he felt his brave army had not been 
seconded in the manner it should have been. He 
thought the AlHes who praised the Belgians so much 
for their stubborn resistance to the Germans, should 
have come more speedily and in greater numbers to 
their aid. The losses of his army had been immense. 
For a moment he swore he would not again risk it 
unsupported in the field, and sat down in Antwerp 
with folded arms to await the coming of the Alhes 
in sufficient number. 

For a moment only, and that a brief one. King 
Albert is a soldier who could not restrain himself 
when any chance ofiered itself of striking a blow, 

185 



The King of the Belgians 

a king who could not see his people suffer without 
coming with whatever force he could to their aid. 
Once more he salhed forth from Antwerp with his 
aimy. He had insured his gene:a.!s and sMaas, 
ezhaiKted by hard labour, and ~-b^.z.^ by kHses 
thon^ tiiey were, with so much of his own zeal 
that they swept the foe before Ihem, all bnt re-took 
Bmssek, aQ but changed the tide at war. Had (me 
or other of the Allies supported the Bdgian army 
at tiiat moment mSh anything oi focoe, histonaiis 
mig^ now be writing the history of a waf afaeady 
ended ^rionsty tai those whom Germany still seeks 
to czodL The Belgians re-took Akst, re-oocopaed 
Mafines, and held strong positions about Oort^ibexg 
betwerai BmsBek and Lonvain. Fof a we^ ihe 
<»aji7 ^rfyff iKling was heard continaoiisly night and day 
in Brussels. During that wedc of heavy fighting 
King Albert was everywhere in the Belgian lines; 
now by the roadside ccmsulting with his generals, 
now in the trenches with a rifle borrowed frcHn a 
soldier firing himsdf <m the foe, again at the front 
encouraging and directing. %So hot was his assault 
that every available G«cman seedier was drawn out 
to resist him. Thra?e were times when there irete 
not mote than five hundred German sc^dien, aO 
told, in BrosB^ So heavy were tiie blows he strode 
that again and again the Germans broke and fled 
beCrae him, and we in Brussels saw lines at straggjbm 
pass akmg, shoving up the stze^ bdEore than 

186 



The King at the Front 

cannons their drooping horses were too weak to 
pull. 

In those days the Germans in Brussels held their 
lives in their hands, and they knew it. Aides-de-camp 
racing to and fro in motors from the General's head- 
quarters in Brussels at the Ministry of Science and 
Art, to the front, had soldiers seated by their sides, 
and lying on the back of the cars, with their hands 
on the triggers of their rifles, ready to fire on the 
first occasion. At this moment the citizens of every 
class showed their good sense. The temptation to 
rise against the handful of Germans who still lorded 
it over them, arrogantly if not brutally, was very 
great. Asked why he held his hand, the leader of 
the Belgian anarchists repHed he did so so that the 
Germans might have no excuse, if they came back 
in greater numbers, of destroying the ancient buildings 
by way of reprisal. Our spy system, he said, is quite 
as complete as that of the Germans. We know 
exactly how many German soldiers there are in the 
city. It would be the easiest thing for us to seize 
them all without bloodshed ; but we know also they 
have undermined the Grand Place and the Hotel 
de Ville, and we do not wish to place the ancient 
buildings of the city in greater danger. Still no 
sufficient reinforcements came to King Albert, and 
he was obliged to desist in his attack on the Germans, 
and withdraw his troops once ^ more to Antwerp. 
The sortie had won him more than he lost. The 

187 



The King of the Belgians 

German losses were very heavy — from between 40,000 
to 50,000 men killed and wounded. The losses of the 
Belgians were much less. 

In Antwerp, both before and during the siege, the 
time of the King and Queen was occupied more in 
preparing soldiers and civihans to be ready to face 
whatever the future might bring, rather than en- 
couraging them to bear the reverses of the moment, 
for, strangely enough, few in Antwerp realised the 
gravity of the situation. Writing from Antwerp in 
August, the French journalist, Alfred de Gobart, 
said : 

" Is this town Belgian ? Do they know here 
the misfortunes of Aerschot ? Is this town en fete 
even on the map of Europe, of Europe torn by 
violent bloodshed, or does its formidable line of 
forts isolate it from the world ? It is impossible to 
beheve that Antwerp knows that we are at war. 
It is inadmissible that a Belgian town whose 
occupants must have sons, brothers and other 
relatives fighting the enemy, should preserve the 
allures of a rich and joyous town where good living 
is the law. Out yonder they are fighting ; here, 
outside all the cafes there are seated gay-gowned, 
laughing-eyed women, and men who drink and 
smoke, and gaily discuss the news printed in papers 
whose headlines cry victories ; shops are open and 
brilhantly lit, crowds encumber the footpaths and 
promenade through the town. Officers of the 

188 



The King at the Front 

Garde Civique parade on horseback, and when a 

wandering ambulance of the Red Cross passes, a 

crowd gathers to stare at the curiosity, come 

from some place else far away. Antwerp knows 

nothing of the war, and it is to be hoped she 

will know nothing of it. So much levity, so httle 

sympathy, would little know how to support a 

great sorrow. The Queen was right the other 

night when she had the windows of her palace 

closely shuttered. The King acted well when, 

entering in a motor taken by chance, he lowered 

its bUnds to prevent misplaced manifestations." 

King Albert sternly suppressed any attempts made 

by his officers at this time to share in the distractions 

of the great city, even going to the length of breaking 

officers whose exuberance at a dinner he considered 

over great. 

It is probable the levity some of the Antwerp 
citizens were blamed for at the commencement of 
the siege existed only on the surface. It is certain 
that when the moment of trial came none showed 
themselves wanting in self-denial or patriotism. 

From Antwerp, King Albert led his army to 
France, where he is carrying on the fight with the 
same undaunted bravery as he displayed upon the 
Belgian plains. With him, after six months of the 
fiercest warfare there are actually fighting at the 
front 120,000 undaunted Belgian soldiers, and every 
day, travelling by way of England fresh Belgian 

189 



The King of the Belgians 

recruits flock to the colours, rallying round their 
King. 

Whatever hap may fall him, however flows the tide 
of war, future generations cannot forget King Albert's 
actions in peace and war, and nothing can deprive 
him of the title of ALBEET THE BRA^'E. 

The subjects of the Belgian King will fight to the 
last man, so will their eager English allies and those 
of France. All are resolved that he shall have, as 
he deserves, the further title of ALBEET THE 
ilCTOEIOUS. 

May God defend the Eight. 



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